“˜Katbot’ introduces fresh look at high school years

By Barbara McGuire
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

First there was E.T., then there was Alf. Now, make way for
Katbot.

Heralding a new era for alien invaders, Katbot, the first
Internet, extraterrestrial “pet,” is taking over
cyberspace at computers around the globe on Sept. 25 at
www.katbot.com. A neon green “kat” from the planet
Katatonia, Katbot is an animated kitty posing as a foreign exchange
student in suburban Long Island, New York as a cover to study
earthlings.

Specifically, the Katatonia Security Agency, who has been
worried about their planet’s discovery on a mission since
NASA’s Mars landing, has sent Katbot to earth to see whether
it’s inhabitants are a threat. But really, Katbot is
interested in the adventure of it all. She’s a sarcastic
kitty who was “born to rock” and is truly intrigued by
the crazy and wild music scenes of earth.

“She’s there to study teenagers just to see what
their attitudes are now, because when they get older they’ll
be able to reach Katatonia,” said Angela Martini, creator of
Katbot. “This generation now doesn’t have the
technology to reach that far, so Katbot is just there to see what
the vibe is, sort of like when people go into the jungle to study
gorillas.”

With her coloring and antennae, Katbot doesn’t look like
the typical exchange student, but with her special powers, one
being a hypno-façade, she is able to make the humans see her
as a regular person. Although her host family, the LeBores, are
fooled, their pet cat can see through the façade and is deeply
infatuated with Katbot.

Martini said that a lot of the inspiration for Katbot content
came from her high school experiences as an “outsider.”
Thus, viewers might feel a flood of memories washing over them as
they check out what’s going on in Katbot’s life.

“When you get out of high school and you’re in
college, I think a lot of your high school memories are really
fresh, and you’re starting to get a little farther away from
them, so maybe you can laugh at them a little bit,” she said
with a reflexive tone of nostalgia. “So, I think that’s
what I find appealing about (Katbot), is to look back on high
school and be like, “˜Oh God, I was so serious or
whatever.'”

As with most anything these days, Katbot is not a regularly
scheduled cartoon, but has its own Internet-twisted, big
brother-esque version of the real world. Katbot will be accessible
through her site 24 hours a day, which even comes complete with
links to spy cams she set up around the LeBore’s home.

“Visiting Katbot.com is like using someone’s
computer rather than surfing a Web site,” said Kerri Mahoney,
art director of the site. “The user gets the sense that
they’re seeing the world through Katbot’s eyes by using
her personal computer, the “˜Katatonia Intergalactic
Transmitter’.

“The interface feels like a hybrid of a laptop and a
personal digital assistant,” she continued. “The user
has the ability to read Katbot’s personal thoughts, e-mail
from friends and her job, view images of her life, and get a
glimpse of what it’s like to be an agent from outer
space.”

Martini also said she feels that the setup of the site gives
viewers a real and engrossing look at Katbot, and believes that it
better serves to present her as a real character than a half hour
television time slot would.

“A lot of the appeal of it will be that it’s sort of
like reading someone’s diary, being that the Katbot.com Web
experience will be that when you go there you will be looking at
Katbot’s palm pilot that she writes on,” Martini said.
“So, you can go through all her files and read her e-mail and
stuff like that.

“A lot of it is a very voyeuristic thing,” she
elaborated. “You’re some place you’re not really
supposed to be and you’re reading and finding out and
watching moves that you’re not supposed to see.”

Though not quite that extreme of a “peeping Tom”
experience, Katbot’s little corner of the Internet promises
to be more entertaining than prime time’s attempt at a big
brother high school show which got canceled after three
episodes.

“TV shows don’t allow the viewer to control their
experience and neither do most Web-based animated shows,”
Mahoney said. “Katbot.com is an immersing and freeform
experience. Each page in the site ties into one another, yet can be
enjoyed as a stand-alone experience.

“The beauty of this K.I.T. interface is that the user can
spend 10 minutes or a half-hour with Katbot and still come away
feeling fulfilled, knowing who Katbot is, what she stands for and
what she’s up to,” continued Mahony.

Katbot will not only suffer through the standard high school
dramas, but will experience some alien ones as well, especially
when her boyfriend Eddie from Katatonia pops in for a visit.

“There’s some funny stuff in it and there’s
some serious stuff in it,” Martini said. “Katbot is
very sarcastic and she’s an observer. She’s there to
partially observe, but she’s got her own opinions about
stuff.

“It’s not all about jokey, jokey, funny things
happening all the time, but I like that it’s a little more
serious and a little more deep than just funny gags,” she
continued. “It’s just more a sardonic look at high
school.”

WEB: Watch Katbot appear in all her glory at www.katbot.com beginning Sept. 25.