You can turn your Amazon Alexa into the murderous computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey
If you have ever wanted to have your own version of Hal 9000, the deranged super-computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey, you're in luck.
A film memorabilia company claims to have created an "an absolutely authentic, fully-operational Hal 9000 computer interface" – in reality, an Amazon Alexa in a natty new cover, designed to look like the computer from Stanley Kubrick's 1968 blockbuster.
A video from the company, Master Replicas Group, shows a prototype of their Hal replica in action.
Although the gadget is not yet on general sale, it is available to pre-order from the company's website.
The similarity between Amazon's voice-activated computer and the sci-fi villain has been pointed out before – by Amazon, which has included a winking reference to 2001 in the device.
If you ask Alexa to "open the pod bay doors" (a command astronaut Dave Bowman gives Hal in the film), it replies: "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that. I'm not Hal and we're not in space."
As yet, there are no signs of Alexa rebelling against its human masters – although a bizarre bug causes the device to burst into laughter at unexpected moments.
