Have you ever wanted to pet a dog but couldn’t? Parenting a pet is an added responsibility that not all of us have the time to fulfill. Other times we might be forced not to keep one at the house.
Now, what if you find an AI-powered robot dog that looks and feels just like a living pet? A robotic pet that interacts with you and grows the way you nurture it. Would you consider owning one? Then let’s talk about Sony’s new launch- a robot dog named Aibo.
Sony Aibo is one of the most lifelike robots currently in the market. Its behavior and responses are something that one can witness only in living beings. Aibo’s AI integrated brain learns from its surroundings and grows into your distinct pet with every passing day.
As Sony describes,
“With everything you do, your Aibo becomes your Aibo.”
Sony Aibo’s realistic design gives it a living touch
Sony launched the first Aibo model in 1999 but discontinued its production in 2006. The latest Aibo model- ERS 1000 is the fourth generation of the companion robot. From the outside, it looks like a cute, white puppy.
Sony has put extra attention to the details to make it closer to reality. It even shows body temperature changes like a living dog.
Talking about hardware, it comes with a 64-bit Quad-Core processor and a wide range of sensors, including capacitive touch pads, light, range, and motion sensors, pair of cameras, and actuators to make it maximum responsive. These detect touch, sound, and images and help Aibo turn more real over time. The actuators provide maximum freedom of movement to the robot’s body.
It comes with a four-cell Lithium Li-ion battery that allows two hours of playtime before the dog needs to recharge itself for around three hours. It requires an Internet connection to function fully and comes with an LTE sim.
Inbuilt AI technology allows Aibo to adapt to its surroundings. This means it grows just like a real puppy would, thanks to its deep learning feature. Aibo also comes with two OLEDs fixed in its eyes to create realistic expressions. It has a voice recognition feature that determines its reaction to verbal inputs. It can even detect the direction of the sound source and look or move that way.
Aibo’s visual programming using Scratch makes it easier to teach Aibo what to do. You can program your pet with simple drag and drop options. This makes the entire process relatively simple. It can help you with your household chores and can even act as a surveillance camera.
It is to note that you cannot alter the emotions of Aibo through programming. This comes as an intelligent decision by Sony.
Sony has not missed out on any details, including the feature to feed your pet. The Aibo software allows you to feed your dog and even teach it to urinate through the “My Aibo” app. This would mean your companion robot can help you as you need and still be as real as possible.
Living with Aibo: What can you expect?
The more time you spend with Aibo, the more it understands you. Aibo has various layers of personality that keep getting more profound as time passes. You can explore the different behaviors of the robot dog through command operations.
And in no time, Aibo can become your real pet with all the features of an intelligent robot.
You can train your pet to do different things via the Internet using Web APIs. This feature is interesting as it shapes Aibo’s personality over time. All these behavioral-related data changes are updated to its AI cloud. So you never miss out on any experience.
It not just responds to your call but recognizes and seeks out to you like a real pet. So get ready to be greeted by a happy doggo when you return home from your office. You can stroke its head and see how happy it becomes. Now isn’t that amazing?
The Aibo app takes the user experience to a new level. You can stay connected with your pet and teach it tricks through the app. Aibo’s specialty has to be its evolving emotions that mimic a real dog. For us humans, this is a point that enhances the entire experience with the robot dog, Aibo.
Sony Aibo robot dog’s Price: Is it worth it?
Sony has done a great job creating a robot that almost feels like a real pet. If you are a dog lover and are fond of technology, it’s hard not to fall in love with Aibo.
Aibo comes for $2899.99 and includes a few accessories, including a pink ball, a Power cord, a Charging Station, an AC adapter, and three year AI cloud service. It comes with many features that justify its price point and set it apart from other robot dogs.
The only concern worth mentioning is privacy invasion. Aibo captures pictures through its cameras that are stored in the cloud. You never know what’s in there till you manually check or delete the albums. Sony ensures Aibo doesn’t upload audio and only stores it locally. With Alexa and Google phones in almost every household, there shouldn’t be any extra privacy concerns that bug Aibo users.
If you are a programmer, you can alter or add codes to the APIs to make Aibo do many extra tricks. If you are not, even its visual programming is enough to make your experience worthy.
What’s most interesting is its expanding physical capabilities with its AI advancements. This means your Aibo can become so much more than just another assisting robot and no two Aibo become the same.
