Whiskas’ Interactive Voice Assistant MIA Imposes Kids Curiosity

Cat food company Whiskas has created its own digital assistant and she’s not for cats, but simply inspired by them.

MIA is Whiskas’ virtual-personal assistant is actually for kids and the brand told it’s based on ‘feline curiosity’. The device itself is designed as a cat, works using a motion sensor. When it senses that humans are nearby, the kitty assistant will start a conversation, asking questions about a whole variety of topics that kids will find interesting (some of them about cats) and offering multiple-choice answers. MIA is a 3D printed device and comes in Whiskas’ brand colors as white and purple.

Whiskas has only sent them thus far to “partners and friends of the brand” and has created a social video, seen here, “narrated” by a cat. We’d like to see the brand go further and design something that might help real cats “speak” to kids themselves.

Instead of answering questions like a normal personal assistant, MIA asks them of any kids within earshot, encouraging their curiosity with questions about the natural world.

Roberto Valdrighi, Marketing Director for Whiskas in Brazil said,

The brand’s stance is suggesting that cat caretakers give them quality nutrition and a good quality of life, respecting and cultivating the natural curiosity that makes them so special, interesting and free. The aim is to strengthen the bond between cats and humans by way of this unique trait, which is shared by both humans and cats: curiosity.

MIA won’t add items to your shopping list or turn on your lights, the device will start a conversation whenever it senses a person nearby. And in a 3D-printed body that comes in both purple and white, MIA is almost as cute as the real thing.