Sony's New Bi-Pedal Robot 272
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
Sony (Score:2, Insightful)
Where are the USA robots? (Score:2, Insightful)
We've got plenty of bright people in this country, but we don't make things like this.
We can't afford to fall behind in robot development.
Get the Expensive Ones Out of the Way Now (Score:2, Insightful)
This is just too cool. All the Asimov I read growing up and to be honest I never thought I would personally own a robot.
Sure I wont be able to afford one of these. But I can remember when my dad couldn't afford a digital watch or calculator.
The expensive, limited units today. The cheap, multifunctional units tomorrow.
This is cool!
.
Re:Where are the USA robots? (Score:3, Insightful)
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? (Score:3, Insightful)
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.