Sony's New Bi-Pedal Robot

TestBoy writes "Sony is releasing a new bipedal robot for home use. It has a 60,000 word vocabulary and can even sing songs." I am especially amused by the photograph of synchronized dancing robots, and the fact that the new bot will cost as much as a luxury car! But it has some impressive stuff like facial recognition

Comments

Re:Where are the USA robots?

[mblase]

We've got plenty of bright people in this country, but we don't make things like this.

That's because rich Americans would rather spend $20,000 on a stereo that does everything, or a handheld that can drive your car, instead of a robot that sings and dances at karaoke parties.

Re:Where are the USA robots?

[First Person]

We fell behind in television development, and that hasn't hurt us any.

Ah, but television (a.k.a. the opiate of the modern masses), doesn't enhance productivity. With their entertainment robots, I think Sony has done a brilliant thing. They've taken the output of their research division and produced a customer facing product. This is extremely difficult with such a speculative technology - just ask Bell Labs. As toys, these robots can demonstrate the technology without requiring the stability of a commercial release. And by offering a new market (besides industrial assembly lines), they can justify increased development expenses because they'll be able to spread the costs over a larger market.