A Redditor built what would undoubtedly be the hottest geek toy of the Christmas season — if only it were for sale. ‘Peeqo‘ is an open source DIY project that responds to human speech through GIFs.
Using a Raspberry Pi micro (and two Arduino Mini) micro-controllers, multiple servo motors, four microphones, a camera, a USB speaker, and an attached LCD screen Peeqo is what happens when you mash up “Amazon Echo and a Disney character,” according to Abhishek Singh — or u/abhi3188 — the device’s creator.
Peeqo uses voice recognition from Google Speech API and API.ai to listen in on your queries and provide the appropriate GIF-based response. It’s also a full-fledged entertainment system capable of playing music and swaying to the beat once he does.
Better still, its developer wrote a Chrome extension that uses the device to keep him in check when he should be working instead of playing on social media. Once he tells Peeqo to block a certain site, the robot voices his displeasure in GIF format, whenever anyone attempts to access it.
The build is a complex one, but Singh provides detailed notes to guide you through the process. Still, this project isn’t for the beginner DIY’er.
via Reddit
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.