# Move over Alexa, there's a holographic anime in town. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 17, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809 "2018-08-17T20:56:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809/1 "2018-08-17T20:56:55Z")
There’s a new digital assistant entering the market. What do you think? I’d prefer a different character. Maybe a frumpy middle aged school teacher. 😉 Someone who wouldn’t be a distraction. It’s only a matter of time and all digital assistants will be holographic. Todays Alexa will seem quaint and antiquated with a few years. > **[Gatebox reimagines Amazon Alexa as fawning anime girlfriend](https://newatlas.com/gatebox-ai-assistant-anime-girlfriend/47012/)** > > While artificial intelligence-based smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home may be grabbing the headlines, Tokyo-based Vinclu's Gatebox is looking to set itself apart with a virtual assistant who isn't just a disembodied voice, but takes the... > [@](#): > > Where digital personal assistants like Alexa, Siri, or OK Google have efficient, businesslike female personalities leavened with a dry sense of humor, Gatebox is currently programmed to be a bit more… familiar, if not adoring. It acts like a distinctly soppy girlfriend that’s sad when you go to the office, sends you texts at work wanting to know when you’ll be home, gets “lonely” if you’re late, turns the light on in anticipation of your return, and even watches television with you with its own holographic mug of cocoa. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809/2 "2018-08-17T21:12:32Z")
I think I don’t expect to ever have a digital assistant of any kind ever, but if I was going to have one, having one that was actively trying to be cute would be hilarious. It would basically be an interactive toy - like what a furby was marketed as being. Having the thing bothering me at work might be another matter, of course - though I personally would be immune since I have no cell phone for it to text me on. (If it was calling me on the actual telephone wires that would definitely be ‘another matter’ territory.) I don’t expect I’d ever be fooled into becoming emotionally attached to the thing - I’m too good at noticing repetitive mindless patterns, which this thing’s interaction would doubtlessly fall into. But if it happened, and I actually did get fond of the thing, that would honestly probably be a good thing. I am basically the american equivalent of the ‘lonely young salaryman’ that it’s intended to cater to (give or take the young part) and in the absence of human companionship, might as well chat with a toy. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809/3 "2018-08-17T21:29:01Z")
That thing is too cute for me. I’d end up throwing it out a window after a few months. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809/4 "2018-08-17T21:30:13Z")
I am completely fascinated by this. With this level of interaction, I wonder if people would start to develop “feelings” for their device. Like the same way some of us love our pets. Also, that avatar is a little “pedo-creepy”. I’d rather have a “Butler” type avatar, with an English accent. (and less adoring) ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809/5 "2018-08-17T22:44:18Z")
Dear God help me, I would probably buy one. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809/6 "2018-08-17T22:48:05Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Dear God help me, I would probably buy one. Even if I was inclined to own a personal assistant, the fact that this particular model almost certainly won’t speak english would slow me down. ---
**Author:** ![KMS94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ad7895/32.png) [@KMS94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KMS94)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809/7 "2018-08-18T23:36:36Z")
I always say “please” and “thank you” to Alexa both to set good example of common manners for my kids, and also because I hope my attempts at kindness will be remembered when the Machines take over. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809/8 "2018-08-19T01:46:12Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Even if I was inclined to own a personal assistant, the fact that this particular model almost certainly won’t speak english would slow me down. You’re not willing to learn Japanese? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809/9 "2018-08-19T05:07:43Z")
Everything nowadays is supposedly a “holograph”. THIS IS NOT A HOLOGRAPH. OR A HOLOGRAM. THERE IS NOTHING 3-D ABOUT IT. LASERS ARE NOT INVOLVED. It’s a reflection of a 2-D image in a glass plate in front of a black background. This is basically Pepper’s ghost. [Pepper's ghost - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper%27s_ghost) Fuck advertising hype. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809/10 "2018-08-19T07:27:12Z")
[Or a rear projection on a special screen](http://file770.com/pixel-scroll-7-8-18-my-friend-can-your-heart-stand-the-shocking-facts-of-pixel-scrollers-from-outer-space/comment-page-1/#comment-825458). (Links are about Hatsune Miko, might also be the tech used in this device.) ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809/11 "2018-08-20T22:23:31Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > You’re not willing to learn Japanese? I wouldn’t learn a second language for a real girl. Certainly not going to for one that can’t cuddle. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809/12 "2018-08-20T22:28:31Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > With this level of interaction, I wonder if people would start to develop “feelings” for their device. Like the same way some of us love our pets. Five years ago, there was a movie called [Her](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Her_(film)) in which a guy developed a close relationship with his digital assistant. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2018, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/move-over-alexa-theres-a-holographic-anime-in-town/819809/13 "2018-08-21T03:57:40Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Five years ago, there was a movie called [Her](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Her_(film)) in which a guy developed a close relationship with his digital assistant. And there is [this](https://www.businessinsider.com/robot-begs-people-not-to-turn-it-off-study-2018-8). People are stupid.