Category: News and Views
Sony unveils new robo-dog
Tokyo
September 30, 2005 - 10:28AM
A Sony employee pets the new model AIBO, the company's robot dog.
Photo: AFP
Sony unveiled a new version of its canine robot AIBO on Thursday which -
unlike your average puppy - can talk and keep a diary but which still needs
love and attention.
The toy pet, which vaguely resembles a beagle with floppy ears, cannot walk
nor talk when first switched on.
Apart from walking, it eventually converses with some 1000 phrases suited
to the "character" it develops as the owner cheers it up and strokes it.
It keeps a diary using pictures taken with its built-in camera when it is
in the right mood. The owner can peek at the diary the following day,
reading
what comment AIBO made.
"AIBO owners have sometimes asked us what AIBO is feeling like in certain
situations as it was not clear. They will be pleased to have this speaking
function,"
said Kiyoko Kondo at Sony's Entertainment Robot Company.
"You would become more emotionally involved," she said.
The robo-dog may steal owners away from the Tamagotchi virtual pet, which
swept the world in the mid-1990s.
Sony starts taking orders on Thursday, with a price tag of 194,250 yen
($A2260) in Japan including a five-percent sales tax.
Depending on the character it develops, a playful AIBO will try to come out
when enclosed by cardboard while a pampered AIBO will call its owner for
help.
The new model is also more like its flesh-and-blood equivalent, scratching
its ears with a hind leg, yawning and cooing in response to gentle
stroking.
But it also comes with several lives. Owners can skip the maturing process
and make AIBO an adult instantly or switch the adult back to a pup to enjoy
the growing-up stage.
AIBO charges its battery by itself when it is "hungry".
Sony has sold 150,000 AIBOs since the original edition was launched in 1999
as the world's first entertainment robot.
Buyers of the first model were technology aficionados and young men but the
customer group has gradually expanded to housewives in their 40s and 50s
with
grown-up children, Kondo said.
The robot dog has also won the hearts of senior citizens who want to show
it to their grandchildren or have someone to talk to, Kondo added.
Some customers say they bought AIBO after their dogs died. And AIBO, unlike
the real thing, does not cause allergies, and does not need to take a walk
or
seek the nearest lamppost to respond to the call of nature.
hehehehe now I've heard it all! now if only they'd invent a robotic person who would do my every bidding ... grin
wow I want one! but not paying all that money. guess will wait til the price comes down a bit, maybe in 2089 Lol
Crazy stuff.... hehehe. Would prefer a real dog though, or, a person would be even better! hehehe.
why haven't they come up with a robo cat yet!
I want a robo Rachel :)
Yes very good but there is a lot to be said for kicking up a great pile of autumn leaves and listening to your beloved real dogs diving in to catch them..no machine will replace the love and security I get from the living breathing mutts..these people are just taking the easy way out ..what will be next on their list of must haves, robo-babies to replace their deceased children
Goblin, I'm unsure why I am surprised to see what you've written, but you've managed to do it again. What insensitive dribble you write some times. Surely even you would know that there are somethings that just dont' need saying, omg!