Love watching cats play with robotic vacuum cleaners? Then, how about 48 continuous hours of it live?
From 5:00 p.m. on Friday, 23 September to the same time on Sunday, 25 September, Japanese video streaming site Niconico Live will be airing 48-Hour Live Coverage of Cats and Roombas as the 12th installment of their This Month in Animals series.
On this weekend, the several cats of Moff Animal World’s Neko Room in Chiba Prefecture will be visited by an iRobot Roomba 960 and Roomba 876 and all will be left to their own devices. Meanwhile we can all watch live from our own devices.
▼ Left: Roomba 960, Right: Roomba 876
Of course, 48 hours is an awful long time so the producers are planning a few surprises along the way.
A system will be set-up where visitors can provide the cats with additional toys and treats. There is also rumored to be an appearance by a special guest hamster who will operate a pulley at some point in the broadcast.
▼ With contract negotiations at a standstill, an appearance by Moff’s celebrity sheep-riding chicken is increasingly unlikely
You might be surprised to learn that there actually is a point to all of this. The aim of 48-Hour Live Coverage of Cats and Roombas is to achieve “Cat Roomba Time.” This is when a cat successfully rides a Roomba for 60 continuous seconds. Although often seen in viral videos, true Cat Roomba Time without human involvement is thought by some to be impossible.
▼ Will one of these cats make history? Tune in to find out!
(Note: this roster was posted in 2014 and may be different at the time of broadcast)
Even if Cat Roomba Time isn’t achieved it will be loads of fun just watching those cute and lovable household companions run wild and bounce around the room freely. The cats should be interesting too.
48-Hour Live Coverage of Cats and Roombas opens at 4:50pm JST on 23 September, 2016 on Niconico Live (registration required)
Source: Niconico Live, Moff Animal World, Netlab (Japanese)
Images: Niconico Live, Facebook/Moff Animal World