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Second Generation Aibo Specs Officially Released
pastie writes "The second generation Sony Aibo now has a full and glorious specification at the Aibo homepage. "
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From cnn.com: The new ERS-210 model, shipments of which will begin in December, is based on the appearance of a baby lion and features more movement and sensors than the first model, a greater range of emotions, limited voice recognition and the ability to take digital photographs.
It'll be a babe magnet with them wanting to pet your Aibo ;-0
No, realy baby, that's my name for it...yeah,.. that's it....
Dirty Pirate Hooker
Forget comparing this to live animals, what a waste of grey matter. How does this compare to other semi-interactive electronic pet types of things or robotic amusements? Is this cooler than remote control cars? Does this beat the hackeresque Palm robot? Is this more fun than Lego Mindstorm? Does this thing even come close to being as fun as a Tamagotchi (which is really setting the bar pretty low)?
I do not have a signature
How come you have to shove the PC cards up his ass?
"Oh dear, honey get the pooper-scooper the dog is crapping out his 56K modem again."
The "AIBO" ERS-210 has 20 degrees of freedom, giving it realistic movement, allowing AIBO to flap it's ears, wag it's tail and make cute and energetic gestures.
I'll be shure to keep my leg at a 10 degree angle or less......
Dirty Pirate Hooker
Crap all over the place.
Shed.
Die.
Devour tons of expensive food.
Visit the vet.
Refuse to learn new tricks once it gets old.
-- perl -e'print pack"H*","6e656d6f406d38792e6f7267"'
Model numbers even. Now we can expect "upgrades" with new version numbers and minor pointless configuration changes, just like stereos and TVs (and WinDoze :-). Dr. Doi (the head of the D-21 lab at Sony HQ) must be sitting pretty. Not quite Kutaragi (of Playstation fame) levels of prestige, but still doing quite well.
And they haven't even released the coolest stuff yet (and no, I can't talk about it - even though I don't work there any more, NDAs still apply).
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Klactovedestene!
boy i'd love to see a beowulf cluster of these!!!
Dirty Pirate Hooker
Second: I'll buy one when it's capable of being a guard dog, a la Snow Crash. I'd love to see the neighbors get mangled by my nuclear attack dog!
Well, if you look here, you'll see that "AIBO learns from your praise or scolding. Praise it for playing with its ball, and it will enjoy playing with the ball more than ever. But if you scold AIBO when it is only looking at the ball, it will soon ignore the ball altogether."
So I suppose if you scold it when it's around you, it will ignore you, but if you praise it when it's around the neighbours, it will go after the neighbours.
Some computerized weaponry and a little bit of hacking later, you have a psychologically-warped little robot dog that's armed to the teeth.
I can spell. I just can't type.
Someone will probably install Linux on him and then hook him up to a sewing machine for slave labor.
Worse yet, some sadist will install Windows on him just to see him writhe in agony, and perish with a hideous blue scream of death.
Accountability on the heads of the powerful.
Power in the hands of the accountable.
Because it would be hell to clean the oil stains on the carpet.
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I
Learning to fly, Pink Floyd.
their choice of location for the "PC Card Slot" is rather amusing. (Or disgusting, depending on your sense of humor levels....)
Goto the pound, and get a much better pet, for quite a bit less. They actually need homes.
Second:
I'll buy one when it's capable of being a guard dog, a la Snow Crash. I'd love to see the neighbors get mangled by my nuclear attack dog!
Me: "Hello, Sony?"
Sony: "Yes, this is Sony technical support. How can I help you?"
Me: "Well, I bought this robo-dog for a couple grand a few months ago and it was pretty slick."
Sony: "Was?"
Me: "Well, you see, Spot started following me around wanting to play ball."
Sony: "And?"
Me: "I was playing ball in the pool with my kids and Spot jumped off the diving board trying to fetch the ball. You know, metal sinks like a rock. Spot doesn't even sniff himself anymore. He just kind of sits there and twitches. Is that simulated hypothermia? Can I get him fixed or do I need to put him out of his misery?"
Sony: "Sorry, stupidity isn't listed on the warranty card."
LOAD "SIG",8,1
LOADING...
READY.
RUN
The new Aibo could be considered the start of user robotics (as opposed to industrial robotics).
The first Aibo can be compared to the Commodore PET and Apple I. Almost zero expandibility and functionality, but a computer you could buy. The homebrew computer builders of course are equivalent to the homebrew robotics builders of today.
The second generation Aibo is more like the Apple II, TRS-80 & Commodore 64. More functionality and almost assured to get many people to start actively using and programming it.
The next generation will be more like the IBM PC. Something where you can actually consider changing not only hardware but also the OS (remember you could get CP/M as well as DOS). Don't forget respectability (GM? Ford? Sony? AOL?!)
Ultimately we will be able to roll our own hardware (choice of motherboards, processors, chassis, actuators, drive, etc) and OS/Apps (Embedded Linux, vision software, viris, etc.). As always their will be the user friendly robotics with their colourful transparent cases!
We may even have a Linus T. of the robot era in grade school right now.
This thing will more than likely cost between $1000-$2000 - I think I would rather spend the money on a Mindstorms set and some parts from Pitsco-Lego-Dacta, then head over here
Long live MIBO!!!
I support the EFF - do you?
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
A Siameze cat, I can tell you from the pics and the specs... now if it purrs....
--
WolfSkunks for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.keenspace.com";
--
# Canmephians for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.net";
"Umm...I think your robot dog is humping your computer..."
"No, he's just uploading data."
"Don't tell me. He uses burst transfers, right?"
--K
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Now you don't have to worry about the dog watching you have sex, but the whole world.
III.IIVIVIXIIVIVIIIVVIIIIXVIIIXIIIIIIIIVIIIIVVIII
That's because it's NOT a freindly pet, it's a robot. Anyone who spends $2500 on something, is NOT buying a cute widdle puppy. Besides, a response to one of my posts tells me that officialy, this model is designed after a baby lion, not so much a dog.
Dirty Pirate Hooker
A real pure bread dog or cat costs only a few hundred
Actually, you can probably knead a pure bread dog (or cat, for that matter) with buying a couple loaves of bread from the nearest Safeway and softening it with water. You can leave it soft if you're a cat person with a longing for a warm, fuzzy cat, or bake it at 400F for that hard Doberman look.
A purebred dog can be more fun since it's actually alive, and it can lick you in the face, catch a frisbee and all.
Carefull, you'll get a "rise" out of him
Dirty Pirate Hooker
But I have yet to really get good info. Sure, tech specs and algorithms are a turn on, but not a sale. Where is the MPEG of it walking around someones house?
The only way sony offers to get detailed specs is to sign up. Is it me, or is this ridiculous? When was the last time you had to give your name address and phone number to a store before they let you shop there? Why would Sony be interesting in turning people away like this? It seems like they are hiding the real info because product isn't half as good as the specs.
When I saw a quick snippet of it on the news, it looked no more interesting than those dogs you see in toy stores that flip around, etc. This is just a bit more advanced. It walked around a bit haphazardly and made all sorts of whining sounds from the stepper motors.
I'd rather spend $2000 on a beowulf cluster of Lego Mindstorms sets and make a 1/2 scale Dalek(hey, they even have a camera for Lego now!) and be my own Davros.
Actually, it'll only cost $1,500 according to C|Net.
It's a decent article. Check it out.
Why is an AIBO k3wl3r than a real dog?
It won't freak out my cats.
-- V was its Victim who cried out "But why?" --
Here's a snippet of the javascript responsible for the mis-viewing:
var agt=navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();
var isWin = agt.indexOf('win') != -1;
var isMac = agt.indexOf('mac') != -1;
if (isWin) { }
else if (isMac) parent.location="macindex.html";
else parent.location="index_unsupported.html";
For even more entertainment value, check out what you see if you go to macindex.html. ;)
No, a streaming protocol.
--- Jump!! Fire!! Bullet time!! - Lego version of the Matrix
http://www.tigertoys.com/poochi/index.html has more information on the robot.
Shine on, you crazy diamond.
December 2000 - The Sony Abio's come online, all human decisions are removed from daily life.
March 13, 2001, 3:34am - The Sony Abio's become self-aware, humans try to pull the plug but it's too late, The Abio's strikes back.
FoonDog
Yes you are right. Think of all the personal info they could gain with that thing. All they would have to do is drive a little black van within about 200 feet of your house (the range of most wireless LAN cards these days). Then they would have to control the dog over the network so that they can maneuver it into position so it doesnt just take pictures of walls and such. Then they take the picture (of what?) and download it over the LAN.
Yep, that sure is a great way to collect data on customers. Drive to their houses and control dogs and have them take pictures of toilets or wallpaper or people's feet. Every big company would kill to get this kind of great marketing information! And they get it so easily, too!
Bah.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
Actually, I think Rob got his Aibo pre-Andover - he traded it for Slashdot advertising, which is why you saw so many AIBO ads on Slashdot, even months after it sold out. Maybe Sony should have saved a few of the impressions for this next introduction?
D
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I dont know about the rest of you guys .. but i dont feel quite comfortable with the positioning of the battery pack.
i can just see it now.
Is your dogs batteries falling out ? or is he just happy to see me??
For someone with geeky leanings, building or buying a mobot platform would give you something that's just as good around the house, is a lot more robust, and allows lots of actually interesting things to be done with it.
A digital camera in the nose? A wireless LAN connection? Am I being overly paranoid or should we be concerned that Sony can now snap "spy" photos from in our houses and easily retrieve them over the Internet? Based on Sony's history, I wouldn't say this is too far-fetched. Imagine the mountains of personal info they could gather with this thing.
There's a couple of obvious "har har check out where the PC card goes" posts, but consider the potential tastelessness of having an interface prong stuck underneath AIBO so that it'd have to do the "happy to see you leg manoever" to transfer data.
Considering the sense of humor of some engineers, thank heaven for small mercies.
--- Jump!! Fire!! Bullet time!! - Lego version of the Matrix
I had a neighbor that's dog was so scared of him that it would shit itself (literally, it wouldn't take the time to 'squat' first) every time it saw him.<br><br>
If they can program a 'scare the shit out of it' mode, I'd buy one for him just so he could remember his little doggy.
Bite my yammer.
epinions on poo-chi
AIBO has gotten a much better response:
epinions on Aibo
Hope that helps.
D
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I can't seem to find any information about price or availability on the AIBO site - I can't afford one anyway, but since the first run sold out thousands in mere hours (at $2,000 a piece!) and the second run was done through a lottery-like drawing, I'm wondering how this one will be sold.
-- Imagine how much more advanced our technology would be if we had eight fingers per hand.
Let's see, possibly a REAL DOG with a REAL PERSONALITY. Something that's fun to play with and entertaining and won't run out of batteries to boot. Sure there's a little more responsibility in a real dog, but a $2000.00 fake dog is almost totally insane. I can't believe some people buy these things.
Seriously, the "old" Aibo isn't that old. I still remember Rob drooling over them before the Andover acquisition (read: when Rob got The Money). I didn't really pay that much attention to the original specs: how much is this model "improved"?
To me, the idea of a pet obsoleting at the same rate as my computer is frightening...
"Sorry, spot, we had some good times together but...well the new models are out now, and this year they're *translucent blue*. I just really can't be held back by old technology anymore. You understand, don't you, boy? Maybe Mom and Dad will find a home for you with some needy children who can't afford the latest model..."
Actually, having a robotic pet at all strikes me as a bit cold, so I guess this product isn't aimed at people like me. Live and learn.
--Lenny
Someone will probably install Linux on him and then hook him up to a sewing machine for slave labor.
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As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
I have found the Poo-Chi to be superior to both the old AIBO and the new model. The Poo-Chi does not contain the complexity of the AIBO, which makes it walk slowly. The Poo-Chi is also a much better value, costing about $30. It allows full computer connection and fast walking, two things that the AIBO lack. Sony's AIBO may succeed in Japan where anything will sell, including soiled schoolgirl uniforms in vending machins (no, I'm not kidding), but the US is a much more conservative market when it comes to spending $2000.
Shine on, you crazy diamond.
All you'd have to do is write your own little mailman identification script, and ta da! What a grand home movie that would make! You could even watch from the dog's point of view!
UBU
Heh dumbass! Did you read my comment? I already did that and I still have to select it every single time I post a comment.
Fucking idiots around here are really starting to piss me off!
Bite my yammer.
If you hack Aibo, you're just a hacker.
If you hack a real dog, you're a mad scientist and people call the ASPCA.
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As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
it's the yeast I can do.......
Dirty Pirate Hooker
is it just me, or dose this generation look more like a cat? Anyone know if they tweeked the programing at all? There was a story from the robot games recently, featuring Abido, that stated they moved much better if you scrubed and re-did their programing from the ground up.
Dirty Pirate Hooker
The thing costs around $2000. A real pure bread dog or cat costs only a few hundred. Can this thing:
For me, the technology is too limited to warrant a $2K price tag.
I suppose I should reserve judgement until I actually see one, but I think they're going to ruin AIBO by making it too gimmicky.
I've had a dog and he didn't need any coloured LEDs to let me know when he was happy, sad, or upset. An AIBO that looks sad by skulking around and not wagging it's tail is likely to get my sympathy, but an AIBO that flashes red lights at me would just be annoying. I wouldn't like a person who shouted "I'm happy now!" or "I'm sad now!" constantly, a robot that was that blatent would have me reaching for the power button ASAP.
Rather than add silly/gimicky features I'd rather they concentrated on things that would make AIBO more useful. Maybe a "call the police" or "call an ambulance" feature. A built-in GPS would be cool too: "AIBO, take me to the nearest pub."
It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail. - Abraham Maslow