aibo the dog designed by sony

Sony is bringing its iconic Aibo robotic dog back to the U.S. for the first time in more than a decade — though this time, the pricey gadget will feature some cloud-connected features that make it more expressive and engaging than previous iterations.

The U.S. relaunch of Aibo, which was announced Thursday, will be the sixth-generation of the company’s line of robotic dogs, first introduced in 1999 and discontinued in 2006. Since re-introducing it in Japan this past January, Sony says it has already sold over 20,000 Aibo units over a seven-month period.

The new Aibo, for better or worse, shares a similar design language with its predecessors, though it looks much more like an actual dog thanks to a pair of large, expressive OLED eyes that blink, get drowsy and show anger. Compact motors designed by Sony give Aibo 22 axes of movement, making it much more lifelike than Sony’s previous robots — though traditional dog-based activities, like scratching its ears or stretching its legs, look pretty comical compared to the real thing. Inside the newly designed Aibo is a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor making sense of all its input data, along with four microphones, a speaker and range sensor on its chest so it doesn’t walk right into a wall or off a table.

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“It’s AI meets robotics, but with a personality,” Sony Electronics President Mike Fasulo tells TIME. Aibo’s personality is more puppy-like than one would expect from a robot, though that’s intentional — Sony is marketing it as a robotic puppy, and like a puppy, that means it won’t always listen to your issued commands. It also means the longer you interact with it, the more it ages, and the more likely it is to correctly respond to commands like “sit,” or “bang bang,” if you’re trying to get it to play dead.

The United States-bound Aibo, dubbed the First Litter Edition, will be available in September, and cost $2,899 — $1,000 more than Sony’s last Aibo, the ERS-7M3, released in 2005. This version will include the Aibo dog, along with accessories like a pink ball and “Aibone” toy bone. Aibo supports both Wi-Fi and LTE connectivity through AT&T. That LTE functionality will be included at no extra charge with the Aibo’s three-year “AI Cloud Plan,” which is needed to enable the dog’s more advanced functions (like facial recognition). What that will cost after the three-year period is currently up in the air.

Thanks to the bundled AI Cloud Plan, Sony claims the Aibo can recognize up to 100 individuals using the camera in its nose, and treat each person differently based on their interaction history. Like it when your Aibo rolls over? Through positive reinforcement — either by praising Aibo verbally or scratching it along one of its capacitive touch sensors on its back, chin, and forehead — Aibo will learn to roll over more often when you’re around, and less so for your friends or partner. “It will learn not only your behavior, but your moods,” Fasulo says. “It can detect if you’re smiling, or if you’re not.”

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Using the My Aibo app, you can manage your robot dog, unlock new tricks and see how much of your home its mapped with its spatial location camera located on the base of its tail. Aibo will use the generated map to find its way back to its charger when it runs out of juice after two to three hours of use. You can add notes sections of the map with tags like “Kitchen,” giving your Aibo more context when issuing commands. It’s easier to send your robot dog to the kitchen if it knows where the kitchen is, after all.

Over time, and thanks to its always-connected software, Aibo can learn new tricks, and even gain more functionality depending on whether or not Sony wants to add any. According to Fasulo, Aibo’s hardware is capable of doubling as a mobile smart home assistant, though the functionality isn’t present at the moment. Whether that means the functionality is on the “Technologically it’s capable of many things, and sure, it could be adapted to be more of an assistant,” says Fasulo.

Basic assistant functionality would be a big plus, especially considering both the Aibo’s price point and competition from cheaper, emotionally engaging robots from companies like Anki, which integrate similar touch sensors and face-recognizing cameras to facilitate interaction with its gadgets. However, one looks like a miniature forklift while the other is a dog that will do tricks, follow you around and beg for a good scratch on its head. How much that’s worth is up to you.

You can adopt Sony’s newest robo dog today for $1,700 down and a mandatory monthly fee.

Ron Amadeo — Nov 1, 2017 5:01 pm UTC

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Weird Sony is back, and it recently announced a new version of the Sony Aibo, everyone’s favorite robotic toy dog! Sony has been out of the plastic pooch business for about 11 years, and the 2017 version is well-equipped for the smartphone era with LTE and an app. Sadly, like seemingly every Aibo ever, the pup is only for sale in Sony’s hometown of Japan, but we can still love it from afar.

The Aibo tries to replicate a real dog and doesn’t do much else. The new version has 22 axes of motion. The legs let it walk, shake hands, sit, play with a ball, scratch a digital itch, and do «hundreds» of other dog things. The tail wags, the ears move, the mouth opens, and the head turns and tilts, making it seem rather expressive in the videos.

Aibo is equipped with a «64-bit quad-core CPU,» touch sensors on the head, chin, and back for pet detection, a speaker for making dog noises, and four microphones for voice commands. Aibo has a pair of OLED puppy dog eyes, which it uses to blink and wink, but it actually «sees» via a nose camera and a SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) setup in the mouth.

Just like a real dog, owning the Aibo is pretty expensive. Adopting a purebred Aibo costs 179,000 yen (about $1,739 US) through Sony’s online store. And while you get to skip out on the daily kibble bill, you’ll apparently still need to feed your pup a steady diet of megabytes. Buying an Aibo commits you to paying for three years of an «Aibo basic plan» for about $26.15 a month (there’s also a «lump sum payment» option for about $789.75). This fee goes toward LTE access for the pup and access to Sony’s cloud infrastructure. The monthly fee is not only mandatory, but, if you don’t pay for the full three years, you’ll be subject to a cancellation fee of $86 plus $4.39 for each remaining month left in the contract.

I have so many questions about this monthly plan. Why does this have LTE? Are you supposed to take your robot dog for a walk? I would think the dirty outdoors would be pretty rough on all those joints and that an indoor-only, Wi-Fi-only use case would make more sense. Also Sony says the «Aibo basic plan» is limited to three years and never mentions what happens when the three years is over. When the plan is over does the dog. die? (This «real dog» analogy suddenly got very dark.)

Sony says Aibo «keeps on growing and changing, constantly updating its data in the cloud,» and promises that «over time, your approach to nurturing your Aibo will gradually shape its personality—it could be a doting partner, a wild, fun-loving companion, or anywhere in between.» The cloud service also gets you access to the «My Aibo» smartphone app, which lets you configure the dog, view pictures from the nose cam, play games, and download new «tricks» (apps) from an app store. With the SLAM system, the dog will eventually map out your house, avoid obstacles, and figure out the shortest distance from one location to another.

The Aibo comes with a toy ball, but you can also pay $26 extra for a toy bone called, of course, the «Aibone.» The new Aibo is up for preorder now in Japan and will be released January 11.

Throw us a bone! Sony is bringing its robot dog to the United States, but it won’t come cheap. The all-new Aibo, first unveiled at CES in January, will land in the coming weeks for $2,899.

Yep, you’ll need to pony up $3,000 for the «first litter edition» of the robot dog. It’s a significant price to pay for a robot companion, but after checking it out in person, I have to say this thing is adorable.

For the price, you get Aibo, a three-year cloud plan, dog toys, and a commemorative dog tag. That cloud plan includes three years of AT&T LTE for network connectivity when you’re out and about, which is nice given the high price.

At a launch event in NYC, Sony was quick to note that Aibo is loaded with technology. It combines robotics, AI, and sensor technology into one product. For this version of the Aibo (technically the sixth generation, although the others have long been discontinued), and Sony updated the eyes with OLED screens. That lets Aibo blink, and users can customize the color via the My Aibo app. The app will also allow you to view photos that Aibo takes via its nose camera, send commands, and see the environment as mapped through the sensors.

For the exterior, there’s only one look: Aibo will only be available in this silver and white, and, no, it doesn’t have any fur.

The tech goes beyond the eyes with several touch sensors, including one on the nose and the back. It also has a camera on the nose and the butt, along with several other sensors throughout the body. These work together show Aibo can learn and map the environment and avoid obstacles.

That first litter edition will be $2,899 with a 3-year plan including AT&T connectivity and toys. Time to go hands-on and get our bark on with @Sony #Aibo! pic.twitter.com/J4oz02z11R

With the camera on its nose, he or she (you can customize the gender) can learn the people of the household and recognize you. Through these interactions with humans, Aibo will learn and get smarter every day. For instance, you can teach him a trick like to shake hands or give a high five. However, just like with training a puppy, you have to give Aibo positive reinforcement.

Aibo can mimic a real dog and the movement is strangely lifelike, although he has glossy outside instead of a furry one.

Image: Jake Krol/Mashable

Aibo won’t always listen, especially in the beginning — so if a voice command doesn’t work the first time, try it again. During a quick demo, it took a few tries to get Aibo to play dead; instead, he barked or didn’t move.

In addition to sensors and hardware inside, the design of Aibo is meant to have him move realistically. Seeing him shuffle across a table, Aibo doesn’t doesn’t move how you’d expect an animatronic robot to move — it moves more in a cute way. This is thanks to the many single- and dual-axis joints all over the robot.

However, while Aibo can walk like a real dog, it can only do so indoors. Sony doesn’t recommend using it outside on grass, dirt, and especially water. You might be able to get away with him on clean pavement, though.

#Aibo can be controlled through touch or voice commands, from first impressions the movement is pretty life like! pic.twitter.com/byOLU9oQyX

The battery life is a letdown as a full charge only lasts two hours — not the same play time and enjoyment you get from a real dog. Aibo will navigate to his charging dock by himself, but expect the charging time to be around two hours as well.

All in all, Sony is echoing similar tones to robotics as Anki is with Vector. There is a core belief in personality and being a companion, something that Aibo can achieve thanks to software, AI, and the hardware. After all, you wouldn’t let a robot dog into your house if it didn’t want to play and be nice. While I am eager to put Aibo to the test, the fact is that he is really expensive.

You can train your Aibo to shake hands, but like a real dog it doesn’t always listen.

Image: jake krol/mashable

I don’t see this as a product for the masses, and Sony isn’t really pushing Aibo as a personal companion. There aren’t many utility features included, and while he does connect to the cloud through WiFi or LTE, it seems like that is mostly for learning and storing visuals. Chances are Aibo will speak to what Sony can do and that the future and the company’s future AI products, including robots.

If you want to add a robot dog to your home, Aibo won’t disappoint but be sure you can handle a $2,899 price. Also, I should mention you can get a real dog for cheaper, but this one doesn’t require cleanup.