Sony Aibo

So if you’ve spotted the favicon up there you’re probably wondering what it is (EDIT: it’s not there anymore!). It’s an Aibo, Sony’s consumer robot, in particular the ERS-210 model. I have a passing interest in Sony Aibos and own two of them, an ERS-210 and an ERS-7. The latter being the most recent model.

The word Aibo comes from Artificial Intelligence roBOt and is also the Japanese word for ‘Companion’ or ‘Friend’. First introduced in 1999 they were the first consumer robot of its kind to be offered to the public. They are able to develop from a newborn puppy to an adult with a personality shaped by interaction with their owners and surroundings.

Truly autonomous, they can see, hear, feel for themselves and walk around to their hearts content (or at least until the battery runs out). Their artificial intelligence allows them to constantly learn from their owners and helps them to develop a unique personality. You can even add to their skills with a range of special software upgrades. They can be programmed to do some weird and wonderful things as well including developing personalities and skits.

They come equipped with a colour vision camera mounted just above the mouth and they use the camera to interact with people and the environment in a number of ways. Equipped with face recognition technology they can remember their owners face and distinguish them from their family and friends.

The Sony Aibo was never intended to be mass produced, having started life in 1993 as a research project and unfortunately the Aibo was discontinued in March 2006 when Sony pulled the plug on their development.