In his attempt to build a better tribble thing, roboticist Steve Yohanan has come up with a Haptic creature that looks like a tribble with bunny ears attached. One that raises the creep factor, by having no facial features. This robot uses touch feedback as it’s only way to communicate.

It’s full of pressure sensors and the need to lull you into a false sense of safety with lots of fur and no face. It will be able to sense how you touch it or stroke it, and it will respond with breathing motions, ear wiggles or purring. What we have here is a fancy fur slipper that’s been sewn up after installing some gear. I just wish I worked for the company, because I’d find a huge bin full of these things and recreate the classic trek image above.

To show off some interactive web experiences, you can perform some life-saving events on a bunny by trying to shock it back to life and then perform surgery, all under 60 seconds. Good luck.

link via Boing Boing