DIYer makes a real-world Pokedex powered by ChatGPT AI, and it's every bit as cool as it sounds

Ever wanted to own a Pokedex - a real one? Your reaction to that will either be a fervent yes, or an equally fervent more negative response, but even in the latter case, you're likely to admire this project.

YouTuber Abe's Projects had the idea to build a real-life version of the Pokedex. The theory was to produce something that looks and works like the device in the Pokemon cartoon, identifying creatures correctly from pictures or toys.

A further goal was to make the Pokedex talk in a similar voice to the one used in the TV show.

The DIY project cobbled together a bunch of simple components - including a camera, speaker, battery, and buttons - to make a Pokedex that can leverage the camera image and ChatGPT-4 in order to identify any given creature.

The AI was also used for replicating the actor's voice (Nick Stellate) when relaying the information about the spotted Pokemon.

The DIY Pokedex actually works pretty well, at least in identifying pictures of Pokemon, or models - it failed with a plushie, mind. Also, the voice isn't all that spot-on, shall we say, and sounds a bit odd, but we're nit-picking: the overall effect is impressive, and plenty of commenters on YouTube want one.

There was an official Pokedex - toy, that is, of course - back in the late nineties (from Hasbro) but it didn't have a camera or recognition abilities. That incarnation just worked as a kind of basic electronic encyclopaedia of Pokemen. It's still highly sought after, mind you.