If you’ve had enough of Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri in your life and you want something more… familiar around, something that resonates with your younger self perhaps, the Master Replica Group has created a pretty perfect reproduction of 2001: A Space Odyssey‘s HAL 9000, available for purchase.
You’d have to be a pretty big fan of the HAL 900 because the prop comes with a price tag of $600. For that money though, the prop is not just a simple replica – the speaker is licensed by the Warner Brothers and it is constructed to look and feel accurate as possible. The original HAL had a Nikon lens that was attached to it with a traditional Nikon F-mount and the reproduction is using the same mount but with a cheaper lens.
You can press a button and talk to HAL and basically re-enact scenes from the iconic film. If you ask it to play a game, a chess animation will appear.
Credit: Master Replicas Group / YouTube
The prop has a unique gimmick though: so far it is the first reproduction that will come with occasional updates. The updates will come over the internet and might include voice support for other voice assistants such as Alexa or Google Home and you might also be able to give it the ability to connect to your smart home.
If you’re into the idea of having HAL 900 able to access all your homely devices, that is.
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