This fluffball robot stole my heart at CES 2025

I tried to go to meet Mirumi with a heart of steel. There are a lot of cute robots showing up at CES every year, that’s a given, and you can’t just afford to woo every puppy-dog-eyed bot that looks your way. But damn, I immediately melted when this stupid little creature glared at me and then hid her head in shame.

Mirumi is the latest quirky but adorable robot from Japanese startup Yukai Engineering, the company responsible for Qoobo pillow with cat tail and a plush kitten gnawing on fingers, Amagami Ham Ham. All he does is look at you and turn his head a little until you have a few moments of happiness. The idea is to emulate that apparently joyful experience of locking eyes with a child in public—a quick, casual interaction that can change your mood. Mirumi looks like a combination of a young bird and a wizened yeti, and his long arms allow him to cling to objects, such as the handle of a bag, so he can follow anywhere and stare at strangers.

Inside Mirumi is a distance sensor and inertial measurement unit that tell it when people are nearby, as well as when it moves or is touched. For each of these scenarios, he has different answers. For example, when a person first comes into his sight, he becomes embarrassed and hides his face for a while, as happened with me. Then he cautiously peeks out again. Push him and he might shake his head, “No.” He doesn’t make any sounds.

Playing with Mirumi at CES Unveiled, I was in awe of absolutely everything she did. When you pick it up, it has a nice weight to it, like a tiny kitten. And at the same time, his small movements cause him to emit a subtle vibration, as if he were purring. I wrapped its flexible arms around my wrist, which also wore a bulky watch and a camera dangling from a strap, and Mirumi felt completely safe as I gently waved it. On a thinner perch, such as a bag strap, the handles are completely wrapped around for better grip. (However, I probably wouldn’t trust it to stay on if I were in a crowded subway car or similar crowded environment).

The Mirumi is rechargeable and should last about eight hours before it needs to be plugged back in. We don’t know what the final color options will be yet, but Yukai has envisioned Mirumi in white, black, and peach. The company plans to launch a crowdfunding campaign later this year before releasing the robot, and it has not yet been determined whether it will be sold internationally.

Is this kind of funny? Yes, absolutely. Especially considering the price: about $70, according to a Yukai representative. But Yukai’s whole premise is pretty ridiculous, and at least for me (and almost every person who walked in during the demo), Mirumi struck exactly the emotional chord it was designed for. “It’s all about making the people around you happier,” Yukai’s Hiroko Sato said during our conversation at CES Unveiled. I can’t hate it.

Speaking of funny, Yukai also shows off a small cat-shaped device called the Nékojita FuFu that will blow on food or a hot drink to cool it down for you. Its curved handles attach to the sides of a mug or bowl, and it can also be placed on a flat surface and blown onto the plate.

The company says it can reduce hot water temperature by 30 degrees Fahrenheit in three to five minutes. We didn’t have any scalding liquids on hand to test this on the show floor, but it’s essentially just a small fan with different airflow modes, housed in a nice silicone casing, and the fan actually blows air.

As someone who waits annoyingly long to take the first sip of coffee or soup because I’m very temperature sensitive, I can appreciate an option that doesn’t require to me do all this work. I can’t imagine going out and buying this, but I think it’s a product that would make a fun gift – part humorous, but also functional. Nékojita FuFu is expected to release later this year for $25 after a crowdfunding campaign.