It’s no secret that Justin Bieber causes mass chaos wherever he goes, but in some cases, him and his mob are not a welcome sight. Understandably, one robot creator was especially annoyed by the Justin's recent appearance at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, as it meant his first ever innovations went overlooked.
“We’re pretty much shut down,” David Shafter said of the onslaught; a result of the ‘Baby’ singer’s presence. “We can’t run our demos.” When Justin made his way into the convention on Wednesday afternoon, grown adults were swarming the booth next to Shafter’s, hoping to snag a photo or just see him up close, which made Shafter’s set-up virtually invisible.
Clearly, Shafter is not a Belieber. The Xybotyx founder was at the electronics event to launch a $100 and some change robotic gadget that is controlled by a user’s iPhone or iPod Touch. Shafter’s company is a start-up, and this is their first product.
The creator’s business partner Dan McShan wasn’t exactly hopping over booths to grab a glimpse of the JB, either. “It’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times,” he said, joking, “We’re trying to get him to defect. It’s definitely costing us valuable hours of time with our target audience.”
JB too had business at the Consumer Electronics Show — he was there to help TOSY launch a portable speaker which morphs into a dancing robot. Still, other vendors were not amused, and Shafter said that he plans to speak with CES about being compensated for time lost, thanks to Justin.
