We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use.

WowWee Femisapien

 & Lance Ulanoff Former Editor in Chief

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

Our Expert
LOOK INSIDE PC LABS HOW WE TEST
65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS

WowWee's Femisapien is built. Well, actually all robots are built by someone, but Femisapien is built, if you know what I mean. If it were a real woman, this 14-inch-tall, sashaying bot would surely be a 36-24-36. Maybe that's why so few people have taken the Femisapien, also known as "the Kissing Robot" seriously.

When you flip on the Femisapien's power switch, it immediately raises its arms in a sort of "ta-da!" motion. It coos and says "Mmm, Hmm!" and then awaits your instructions. Like so many of WowWee's toy robots, this one has no real purpose beyond providing entertainment, but what it can do to entertain is, to be fair, pretty remarkable. Over the course of testing, it kissed me repeatedly (until it finally said "blech!"), danced with me, walked with me and even delivered my business card. It also walked a virtual catwalk, avoided obstacles, fell asleep, and, I think, at one point even touched its own curvy behind and made a sizzling sound.

Instead of being operated by a remote, the Femisapien has hands that function as joysticks. Although this is an innovative approach, I challenge anyone to remember the variety of combinations and the subsequent actions they deliver. Oh, did I mention that the head position, tilted down, looking straight ahead, or tilted up, adds three further layers of control?

The Femisapien can interact with other WowWee robots, like the

WowWee Femisapien : Front

WowWee Femisapien : Back

WowWee Femisapien : On/Off

WowWee Femisapien : Head

WowWee Femisapien : Right

WowWee Femisapien : Angle

WowWee Femisapien : Left

About Our Expert

Lance Ulanoff

Lance Ulanoff

Former Editor in Chief

A 25-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance Ulanoff is the former Editor in Chief of PCMag.com. Lance Ulanoff has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases, "on line" meant "waiting" and CPU speeds were measured in single-digit megahertz. He's traveled the globe to report on a vast array of consumer and business technology. While a digital veteran, Lance spent his early years writing for newspapers and magazines. He's been online since 1996 and ran Web sites for three national publications: HomePC, Windows Magazine and PC Magazine. A graduate of Hofstra University, Lance has history with the PCMag brand that spans nearly two decades, having worked there in the early 90s and returning in 2000 to relaunch PCMag.com. In 2007 he was named Editor-in-Chief. During his tenure, Lance guided the brand to a 100% digital existence. In his capacity as Senior Vice President, Content, for Ziff Davis, Inc., Lance oversees content strategy for all of Ziff Davis' Web sites. His long-running column on PCMag.com has earned him a Bronze award from the ASBPE. Winmag.com, HomePC.com and PCMag.com have all been honored under Lance's guidance. Lance served host of PCMag's weekly podcast, PCMag Radio and makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Fox News, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, Bloomberg TV, NY1, CNN HLN, BBC, New York's Eyewitness News, News Channel 4, and WCBS. He has also offered commentary on National Public Radio and been interviewed by newspapers and radio stations around the country. Lance has been an invited guest speaker at numerous technology conferences including Think Mobile, CEA Line Shows, Digital Life, RoboBusiness, RoboNexus, Business Foresight and Digital Media Wire's Games and Mobile Forum. Lance also posts to Twitter all day long. You can follow his tech industry activities and thoughts at http://twitter.com/LanceUlanoff

Read full bio