The Mocoro Robot Cleaning Ball is nowhere near as advanced as Roomba’s robotic house-cleaning fleet. These devices use a variety of sensors and proprietary software to ensure that every inch of your home gets vacuumed. Then, when their batteries are running low, they automatically find their way back to their docks to recharge.
Mocoro’s robotic house cleaner won’t do any of that. In fact, it’s basically a glorified cat toy. But it’s the cutest little cat toy you’ve ever seen, and you probably need one in your life.
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Japan always seems to get tons of fun stuff like this furry little robot long before it ever reaches U.S. shores, but the wait is finally over: The Robot Cleaning Ball can now be yours for $38 plus shipping.
Is it worth $38 plus shipping? Probably not unless you value cuteness over utility, because this little device is as cute as they come. Seriously, it’s even cuter than a bunny — just look at this video:
Now that we’ve gotten the cute part out of the way, the Mocoro Robot Cleaning Ball is little more than a wobbly ball in a fluffy bag that zips over it. It’s been around in Japan since 2013, but someone posted it on Product Hunt today because it looks like there’s finally a distributor — Firebox — that’s selling it in the U.S. and Europe. Finally.
The description from Firebox’s site:
You can turn up “I want to break free” as loud as you like, hoovering is still a pain in the backside AND it eats up hours of your precious time. But now, thanks to a marvel of eccentric Japanese engineering, you can put your feet up and let the Mocoro Robot Cleaning Ball do all the work.
It’s a fluffy robotic duster with a mind of its own; roaming freely around your home picking up dust and filth, changing direction whenever it hits an obstacle so it doesn’t get stuck in tight corners or insist on trying to go upstairs. Just sit back and let it do it’s thing – it’s got so much personality you’ll expect it to hop up on your lap and start purring.
To stop this playful ball from wasting battery there’s an internal timer that pauses it after 15 minutes until disturbed again (a very gentle kick will do). The pink microfibre coat can be brushed clean and is easily removed to be hand or machine washed.
Did we also mention that it’s the greatest cat toy ever made? Now you can come home to sparkly clean floors AND exhausted pets.
Silly though it may be, it actually does make a fun little gift for a friend or a pet. On the downside, the Firebox site notes that three AA batteries will only power the device for about three hours of non-stop use.
You’ll find a link to the Mocoro Robot Cleaning Ball product page on Firebox below in our source section.
