For those that feel they lack the respect that is their due, Sega Toys plans to launch a new toy this September.

According to Nikkei, Pekoppa is a 15cm-high plant-like toy whose stem contracts and stretches when spoken to. Talk to it, and it will bend whenever there is a break in the conversation, as if nodding in agreement. Sega, rather cynically, says its target markets are those who live alone and company employees whose nerves need soothing.

An IC chip buried in the flowerpot accumulates voice data and analyses it on the basis of the rhythms of human conversation, sending a weak current to trigger the nodding. The fibrous shape-memorising alloy that runs through the stem reacts to the current, contracting and stretching the stem in response. The rhythm analysis program was developed jointly with Professor Tomio Watanabe of Okayama Prefectural University.

The plant comes in a choice of white, brown, and light blue pots. X