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New AIBO Demo'd 99

Posted by CmdrTaco from the its-hard-to-hug-a-robot dept.
RalfM writes: "The new AIBO has been demo'd, and with this version you can watch live footage from it's cameras via radio link, radio control it, give it booster packs, and a whole swag of other goodies." I still dig on AIBO, but until it is smart enough to home in on its base station and recharge itself when its batteries are running low, it's hard to consider AIBO ready for prime time.
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New AIBO Demo'd More

New AIBO Demo'd

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  • who watches the watchmen? (Score:5, Funny)

    by spiny ( 87740 ) on Sunday November 11, 2001 @02:12PM (#2551139) Homepage Journal
    hmm, remote cameras, radio control ...


    it's part of Carnivore isn't it ?

    spiny.

  • The trouble with AIBO is that like any piece of technology it becomes obscelete after a few months, after which time Sony bring out a new model.

    When was the last time you heard of a new version of dalmation being brought out?
    • Actually, they did breed a new dalmation without any spots a while ago (true - although it does sound a bit disneyfied; link any1?). not sure how they did it - it was either flashing the bios, or using hot-swappable scsi spots i think
    • New dalmations are being born every day. Technology ages, just like flesh. What's special about AIBO, or at least a design goal, is that you can grow attached to it. You develop feelings for the little guy (or gal) and no amount of new technology will make those feelings go away, even if it doesn't have all the latest features. But even with these new whiz-bang features, the product itself isn't entirely worthwhile or remarkable, its just such a direct appeal to emotion that most people can't help but grow attached.

      But I hope it evolves beyond even this, into a "personality vehicle" -- where the capabilities of the hardware are of secondary importance to the personality that you've spent so much time "growing" through day-to-day interaction. The hardware will need to be changed out everytime your AIBO falls in the pool, gets hit by a car, or when Sony releases a new model with capabilities worth paying for -- but the carefully (or perhaps not so carefully) trained network of reactions that you have perfected for your robotic pal will be the same as you've ever known, and you'll only have to spend time making sure your AIBO learns to properly use whatever new features it's been granted, as opposed to trying to make sure that it relearns everything from scratch to be exactly the way it was before (which with complex AI is pretty much impossible to do.)

      We are trapped in our bodies for now, but AIBO and other A.I. "creatures" already have the possibility of an indefinite lifespan presented to them. Even if this doesn't become the reality of AIBO (which would be a mistake), don't pretend to not be ruled by your emotions. I know you still play your Atari 2600.

  • Reminds me of this "classic" prose... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ekrout ( 139379 ) on Sunday November 11, 2001 @02:13PM (#2551142) Journal
    All I can say is that their choice of location for the "PC Card Slot" is rather amusing. (Or disgusting, depending on your sense of humor levels....)
  • AIBO?

    Isn't that the non-hackable [slashdot.org] Sony [riaa.org] robot toy?

    Move along, nothing to see here.

  • Video (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rockwood ( 141675 ) on Sunday November 11, 2001 @02:14PM (#2551148) Homepage Journal
    The story does mention the video feed, but what about sound? With a good hack and a high speed net access , I could actually make sure the kids (and the wife) are behaving while I am at work. And I could roam the house and the yard! I think I'll have to install a pet door?

  • Umm... (Score:1, Redundant)

    by Safety Cap ( 253500 )
    Wouldn't you rather have a real dog [hsus.org]?

    One that worked [bordercollie.org]© and didn't crash?

    • Yes, but for those of us who live in apartments that don't allow pets, this thing is a pretty good option...
  • So the glorified Furby can now be used as a remote spy tool disguised as a child's toy? Sounds like office fun to me.

    -Chardish

  • Whats wrong with the world today? (Score:5, Funny)

    by neema ( 170845 ) on Sunday November 11, 2001 @02:29PM (#2551172) Homepage
    We want to fill cats with electronics [slashdot.org] and make electronics more like dogs.

  • Sony is on the right track with the AIBO, but these mutts need a better Mind [sourceforge.net].

    As the pet robot dogs and robot personal assistants get more advanced, they will enjoy their own robot sociality [sourceforge.net].

    Then, together, we robots and humans will reach Technological Singularity [caltech.edu].

  • AIBO Not Ready For Prime Time? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bowie J. Poag ( 16898 ) on Sunday November 11, 2001 @02:36PM (#2551193) Homepage


    Lets not ignore the advances made in the new AIBO design:

    o New leg-humping algorithm for extra comedy

    o Now licks balls!

    o Spent batteries now drop out of the AIBO's ass.

    o New code revision allows the AIBO to shove his nose the crotch of anyone who comes over to visit.

    o Will no longer try to assert its dominance over the vaccum cleaner.

    o No longer attacks small children

  • Forget Sony! they took down the Aibo Hack site! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by studboy ( 64792 ) on Sunday November 11, 2001 @02:40PM (#2551205) Homepage
    uh, guys? remember Sony Uses DMCA To Shut Down Aibo Hack Site [slashdot.org]?

    just checked, site's still down. Move along folks.

  • User Programmability (Score:5, Funny)

    by Kirkoff ( 143587 ) on Sunday November 11, 2001 @02:43PM (#2551213)
    Personally, I think it'd be neat if it was user programmable. I think that the standard way of programming isn't quite right though. It'd be good to have a simple AI setup. The user would reward by physical contact. The user would then tell the robot when it was bad. Of course you wouldn't include voice recognition, it could just use volume for the most part, and maybe over time it would recognise a few words. Those words could be used as commands. For this we could use specialized hardware:
    • Fur used to keep the unit withing operational temerature ranges.
    • Powered by low heat break down of simple sugars
    • "Wet" technoligy processors. Rather than S02, they are based on Oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen (mainly)
    • Medium resolution black and white cameras mounted in the front with possible detection of distances
    • Microphones mounted under sound focusing devices
    • Self fuling "M.O.U.T.H" technology


    These items sound exotic, and well, I don't think any one can make them on their own. You can however get one fully assembled. I'm not in a particularly advanced area of the US, but I saw them at the local Mall! I know that there is a specialized dealership called a "Pound" that will sell them refurbished at a great discount.

    --Josh
    • Your point is dead on. While we're attempting to copy a living thing, we'll probably always come up a little short of the results of evolution. The reason endeavors like this are worthwhile is that you can use design preferences that are different from natural or artificial selection. By removing capabilities like self-repair, growth and embryology, etc., and removing design goals like reproduction and survivability, you can achieve things that nature can not. Like a more convenient diet, no poop, high bandwidth wireless output, etc.
    • Actually the Aibo does program itself according to your input. You tell it, bad, it wont do that again (hopefully) and you can also pat it on he head specific ways to communicate simple behavior to it. There are a lot of opportunities from what I have been able to read.
  • is combine this with that robot that digests sugars [slashdot.org] [slashdot.org], and wire the 'output' up to the..ahem... rear.., program it to find the nearest corner when the need arises, and *poof* we have an AIBO that's even more realistic!

    house training would simply be a matter of punting it into the proper corner when it starts getting that funny walk

  • Home in on recharge station... (Score:4, Funny)

    by trilucid ( 515316 ) <pparadis@havensystems.net> on Sunday November 11, 2001 @02:47PM (#2551224) Homepage Journal

    heh, sounds like a great way to get back at that pesky neighbor who's cat is always making all that damned racket at night...

    It's simple, really. Just follow these easy steps:
    1. Convince all neighbors to buy AIBO pets once they can do this.

    2. Dissect AIBO home station, extracting components that do RF communication with pets.

    3. Mount said components on neighbor's cat.

    4. Watch in glee as AIBO pets attempt to plug into "recharging station".

    5. Repeat as necessary with offending cats, employ shotgun technique if ineffective after several days.

    My cats live indoors :). Am I a sick bastard for even thinking of this? Yessir.

  • He doesn't want one until it is "..smart enough to home in on its base station and recharge itself when its batteries are running low..."

    OK then mate. Take a trip down to the local electronics store to pick up some optical range sensors (or even a mini-GPS unit for those long distance walks!), maybe a couple of minor burns while soldering and several K's of asm and you're there!

    :) heheh

    --RupertJ

  • AARG... (Score:2, Funny)

    by RussGarrett ( 90459 )
    Must...fight...urge....
    Must...resist...flameing....
    Noooooo!

    New AIBO Demo'd

    I find it incredible how the slashdot editorship

    • Re:AARG... (Score:1, Offtopic)

      by RussGarrett ( 90459 )
      Oh dear... that went gravely wrong...
      Let's try again:
      New AIBO Demo'd

      I find it incredible how the slashdot editorship can't manage to correct such a blatant example of apostrophe misuse. It's Demoed. The apostrophe is used to indicate possesion, or a shortening of the word, not randomy when you feel like it might look better. Does the AIBO belong to the demo? Is there a missing letter in that word? Nope.

      Please slashdot, if you want to be viewed as a decent information source, the least you could do would be to at least give articles a cursory check for spelling before slamming them up on the site. Please.
      • What do you mean, there isn't a missing letter in that word?

        Forming a regular past tense in -ed results in the word "demoed", as you said. "Demo'd" is, accordingly, missing a letter, which is replaced by an apostrophe.

        Sure, there was no real reason to do this, since it is not a standard contraction and it does not affect pronunciation (/. ain't poetry, anyway), but it follows a rule, after its own bewildering manner.

        And what exactly do you mean about a decent information source? Do you not believe that Sony presented a demo of a new AIBO because Taco threw in an apostrophe for no good reason?

        No one ought to "believe Slashdot", per se. You can read the links, and decide if you think they're credible or not if there's room for doubt, and God only knows you should be wary of what you read in the comments, be they in the story or attached to it. The credibility of the staff really seems to matters very little.

        Best,
        Meghan

  • Cool, but... (Score:3, Informative)

    by MotorMachineMercenar ( 124135 ) on Sunday November 11, 2001 @03:04PM (#2551257)

    As other posters have pointed out, Sony is in legal squabbles with Aibo hacking sites. A POV that paints a rather disturbing (if one can use such a word in the context of a robot pet dog) picture of Sony's tactics can be found here [aibosite.com]. After reading the above, I'd like to urge people to sign a petition [gopetition.com] to send a message to Sony so people could customize their Aibos. (And signing the petition also helps Red Cross, which actually is something that matters.)

    Universities already customize their Aibo software to participate in Robot Cup, and I don't see why individual users shouldn't be allowed to do the same. Sony will probably use the same prohibitive pricing as it currently uses with all Aibo software, but it would be a start.

  • make it now look more like the robot in the film _Red Planet_ to me than the first AIBOs did.
    http://us.imdb.com/Title?0199753
    • Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the robot in the movie Red Planet suddently begin hunting down and killing the human members of the expedition because of a software error?

      I think a sure winner that SONY finally have relized that the best way to seel the Aibo's is to change the apparence from the look of a cute and harmless robotpet to something that would sneak around the house watching you, and then attack you when you least expect it.
      • ...something that would sneak around the house watching you, and then attack you when you least expect it.
        But it *doesn't* look like my ex-roommate from college....
  • While following links about the aibo, I found about those cute ERS-310 aibos [aibo.com]...

    Hey, they can even sing songs! What else could you hope for?
  • 2001-11-08 19:01:01 New AIBO slated for release (articles,toys) (rejected)

  • Throw a little hydrogen powered wankle engine in the thing and all you get out is 02 and h20?

    Employ a "farting" algorithm to expel the 02 and a way to program it to "water the plants" from time to time.

    And, with that kind of power it can chase cars, cats and intruders away. When it is lonely it can rev the engine up and you'll hear a "dog like whine".

    Only down side is you'd never be able to make an "AIBO sled dog team"...than kind of engine would be a bi*ch to start in cold weather.
  • ... that Sony's AIBO policies suck [slashdot.org]!

    I'd never buy an AIBO. Sony blew it. I'd rather build my own robot out of [slashdot.org]
    Lego Mindstorms stuff.

    • In the article you reference, the site in question was making Sony copyrighted material available for download, without Sony's consent. Sony is well within its rights to attempt to prevent that, and in fact could have gone further by having the site shut down by its ISP, under the provisions of the DMCA. Kudos to Sony for not doing that.

      A separate issue is Sony's claim against the distribution of independently-created programs for the Aibo. In this area, Sony is attempting to use the DMCA in an unfortunate way. But while the sites providing such information are violating more basic, longstanding tenets of copyright law, they don't have the slightest chance of being taken seriously.

      The creation of content for a platform, based on reverse engineering of that platform, has some legal precedent. The "unauthorized" creation of games for Nintendo consoles was one example that actually went to court and was found to be legal. If the DMCA prevents such actions, independently created programs for the Aibo would make a good basis for a test case to have these provisions overturned. However, the waters are so badly muddied by the distribution of Sony's copyrighted material, that a successful legal defense of these sites is probably all but impossible. These sites bring this on themselves - they should stick to distributing things that they have created, and they'll be on much firmer ground, and might even find that organizations like the EFF or ACLU would be willing to defend them.

  • Want a real robot pet? (Score:5, Informative)

    by cr0sh ( 43134 ) on Sunday November 11, 2001 @05:02PM (#2551624) Homepage
    I still dig on AIBO, but until it is smart enough to home in on its base station and recharge itself when its batteries are running low, it's hard to consider AIBO ready for prime time.

    First off, get off your duff and decide to build your robot "pet", instead of buying one. While you may or may not have the skills needed, they can be learned and developed. After you have built your robot "pet", and actually see it working - you will know true joy at seeing something you built actually doing things - perhaps even things that make it seem "pet-like".

    But where to start?

    You could start with familiar books on the shelf at a local Bookstar or Amazon, such as The Robot Builder's Bonanza: 99 Inexpensive Robotics Projects by Gordon McComb [amazon.com] (ISBN 0-07-136296-7). However, while I strongly reccommend this book, it focuses more on the mechanical side of things (which _is_ important), but not the software/logic side, which for behavioral systems, will be very important (otherwise it just becomes a programmed or r/c car with a "robot" look). So what should one do?

    If you want to build a real robotic pet, here are the books you should have in your library of robotic books (among others, of course):

    The David L. Heiserman "Series":

    Build Your Own Working Robot (Hardbound: ISBN 0-8306-6841-1 - Softbound: ISBN 0-8306-5841-6), TAB Book 841

    How to Build Your Own Self-Programming Robot (Hardbound: ISBN 0-8306-9760-8 - Softbound: ISBN 0-8306-1241-6), TAB Book 1241

    Robot Intelligence (with experiments) (Hardbound: ISBN 0-8306-9685-7 - Softbound: ISBN 0-8306-1191-6), TAB Book 1191

    Though looong out of print, these three volumes are essential, and should be read in the order given, as they build upon one another. The final book in the series picks up where the prior one left off, but goes in the direction of software based "virtual" robots - an early form of virtual artificial life, if you will. However, it is clearly seen that the author intended the reader to apply these programs toward the robot designed and built in the prior book - and thus take them from the virtual to the "real".

    Another book worth exploring is called "How to Build Your Own Working Robot Pet" by Frank DaCosta (TAB Book 1141 - sorry, no ISBN, my copy is shipping currently) - also long out of print. From what I remember in the edition I read, it details how to build a small robot with very definite pet-like qualities (whereas Heiserman focused on what he termed "Evolutionary Adaptive Machine Intelligence" or EAMI for short). I am not sure if there was any contact between Heiserman and DaCosta, but both of their books, and a host of others (notably ones by Edward L. Safford) were published around the same time frame by TAB Books. All of the devices described by DaCosta and Heiserman had the capability (depending on your skills) of auto-recharging themselves when their batteries got low (indeed, Heiserman believed such capability was a paramount thing for an autonomous system, and went into great detail on the design of the system and the "coding" and logic for it).

    What is most amazing about all of these authors was the time when they were doing this, which was the late 1970's through early 1980's. Such robotic experimentation peaked at around the mid-1980's, then for unknown reasons, went underground. Hobby robotics is now starting to pick up again with a new generation, but the newcomers seem to have lost the "history" behind their experimentations.

    These old hobby robot experiments still have great value for experimentors today. Read the books I have outlined above, and apply the principles (I would not suggest anyone to apply the exact methods used in building the original robots - as it just wouldn't be cost effective anymore - both of the first two Heiserman books effectively detailed building small computer systems, the first nearly entirely logic based, with a very Brooks-like subsumptive architecture, long before Brooks - and the second a true 8-bit computer system, using Intel's 8085 CPU!). However, these principles could easily be applied to a BASIC Stamp, or to nearly any other microcontroller - or you could go a step further and use an on-board laptop motherboard or similar.

    These are the books I would recommend - apply the "old-school" knowledge of Heiserman, DaCosta, and if you want, Safford - and meld it with a little of Brooks and McComb - imagine the possibilities!

    Finally, while you are at it - think of this for me:

    Note these older TAB Books - how well laid out they were, how clear the diagrams and details were, the way everything is described, as well as the graphic art. Then take another look at today's so-called "technical" books: hardly will you find an equivalent. Even a recent look between McComb's first and second edition of his "Robot Builder's Bonanza" (I have both) will show you what has occurred - a true loss in quality (the first edition was published by TAB Books, the second by McGrawHill, under some "TAB Electronics" name).

    I also want you to think and wonder about where these early robots, and their builders, went - were they relegated to a scrap yard (the robots, not the builders)? Do their builders still own them? Are they in a museum some where?

    I seriously wonder about these things - I have a ton of old robot books from the early 1970's to the mid-1980's describing these robots, and there is hardly any information about where they ended up at! History lost! Both hobbiest and commercial ventures seem gone to history (I tend to wonder, on the commercial end, what happened to the Mosher/GE Hardiman "suit", as well as Odetics, Inc's ODEX-1?). Tod Lofburow's (sp?) KIM-1 based triangular hobby robot (which he described in another TAB book, if you want to look it up). I remember in another book a fascinating picture of a six-foot tall humanoid appearing robot named C.H.A.R.L.I.E., who was named after the builder, but the acronym stood for something, which wasn't detailed in the book, as the book was less of a technical book, and more of a "coffee table"-type book - where did this robot end up at? Are all of these devices collecting dust? Will they end up on Ebay?

    Please - if anyone has ANY answers, I would most appreciate them...
  • Didn't the British just invent a robot that could power itself by eating garden slugs. Perhaps Aibo could use that technology or something similar and then not need the base charger at all.

    Real pets can be trained to find the automatic food and water dishes. Then you only have to put out food every other day.

    On the other hand feeding is an important part of the pet/owner relationship. So there's no real difference between openning a can and popping the dog into the base charger.

    Real pet or robo pet, you have to feed them both. Unless you have barn cats that eat mice and drink rainwater. Then you have the ultimate in self sufficiency. But they're not very cuddly and don't live long.

  • You know, it just struck me that people would be more willing to look over AIBO's shortcomings if the thing weren't so crummy looking. Looking at this pic, I thought to myself: If I were directing a sci-fi movie, and needed a robot that said, "stylish post modern digi companion".....well, lets just say whoever brought me this Robby-inspired monstrosity would be fired on spot. Sony should license Apple to do their industrial design for these things...call them iBo or something. =)
  • maybe the new killer app is something you can hack
    which doesn't scare your friends.

    Coding scares people. Maybe a FreePet will change that.

    We have FreeDos, can't we have FreeDog?
  • This is gonna be moded down to hell but the link to the AIBO site with flash doesn't work on macs.
  • I saw a demo of the new Aibo a few weeks ago at a seminar in Tokyo, and it was pretty cool. Remote control of the aibo from a laptop over 802.11 was shown and the graphic interface is really neat, looks like a cross between a dashboard simulator for a submarine game and Kai's Power Tools. You get live video (I don't think it had sound..) and can make it do tricks by pushing buttons on the screen.

    Afterwards though I asked the person who built it about the possibility of session hijacking and he said "security is the next thing we have to work on". So maybe you can sit in on the session now. Sticking the memory stick up the Aibo's butt was pretty hilarious though. The rest was pretty dry discussion of overall software idea and market, not a lot of meat for engineering types since I guess they don't want it to be hacked..

    There are two new models that look like cute little pandas which most diehards don't like but young people seem to find cute enough to watnt to purchase.

    Also Omron just came out with a robotic cat [bbc.co.uk] which I saw in a store (RanKing RanQueen, Shibuya Station 2F) two days ago. It looks like a hell kitty, in that it is a BIG cat (not a kitten) and while made up to look realistic it really isn't. Kind of like a cat nightmare. But it did have a number of interesting cat-like reactions to me even though it was stuck inside a plexiglass box. No info yet on future networking possibilities with it, but seems like it would be pretty easy to slide your own packages under the fur without anyone noticing!

  • In a press release Sony said that with the 220 they will encourage people to write their own software for it.... meanwhile back on the ranch they are still hassling AiboPet about the hacks he wrote for the 11x's and 210's..... Heelllloooo is there anyone in Sony who is keeping track of their latest policies???? Can we hack them or can't we???????
  • This AIBO just isn't as cute as the last model. It's head is flat, and proportioned like a bulldog's, and the flashing lights under the shield are creepy. Old AIBO had proportions like a puppy, but this one is like a small adult dog, and we all know what the world thinks of toy dobermans and poodles.
    • Of course it's not as cute as the last model. Sony is just implementing the enhanced hounds from William Gibson's classic Count Zero.
      The first of Rudy's augmented dogs picked them up fifteen minutes after they started out again. ... A lean gray hound regarded them from a high clay bank at a turning in the road, its narrow head sheathed and blindered in a black hood studded with sensors. It panted, tongue lolling, and slowly swung its head from side to side.
      Not so revolutionary now, but back in 1986, like everything else in the Neuromancer/Count Zero/Mona Lisa Overdrive series, it was mind-blowing.
      Gibson bibliography [slip.net]
  • I still dig on AIBO, but until it is smart enough to home in on its base station and recharge itself when its batteries are running low, it's hard to consider AIBO ready for prime time.

    If it was affordable and hackable (without getting lawyers involved) it could be a great, even useful, toy that would make furby look like a pile of puke.

    No offense to the interesting furby hacks and hackers out there, but imagine a cheap less featured Aibo in millions of homes. Okay we all have PCs now, where are our damn robots?
  • Anyone else have flashbacks, upon reading this slashticle, to the movie Batteries Not Included?

    Believe me, you don't want them recharging themselves. Not always a good thing. It's all fun and games until you get the electric bills..
  • Now that I can talk over the net. Does anyone know the protocol. I'd really like to do some reverse ingeneering on it.
    Can you give it a IP address?
    Imagine a bunch of these with a IP V6 adr. each and all of them on the internet..

    Maybe then that we realize that Cyberdyne systems in real life was Sony. :-)
  • As others have pointed out, Sony still hasn't made the aibohack situation right, so screw Sony's new Aibo products until they do. For that matter, screw all of Sony's products.

    But I digress...

    The remote control via a video link feature isn't new to the 220 series. The 210's can do the same thing with an Aibo wireless card (apparently just an Orinoco Silver card shaped so only it will fit into the Aibo and they can charge $200), the Navigator software and a PC with a wireless card.

    Actually, the 210 (previous version, not counting the Pokemon-lookin' 310) and the new 220 are pretty much the same underneath all that chrome. Sony is going to offer a kit that will allow the 210 to become a 220. The brick inside is the same, just the appendages are different. The new software will work with the 210 or the 220, as well as accessories (it looks like the 210 charging station will work with the 220).
  • but until it is smart enough to home in on its base station and recharge itself when its batteries are running low, it's hard to consider AIBO ready for prime time.

    Oh yeah, when AIBO can do that it will be so much more Useful.

  • BBC News is now reporting [bbc.co.uk] that Sony researchers are experimenting with increased speech capacity. Here's one of the first papers [google.com] about the increased-capacity talking Aibo project. This is the English/HTML translation of the French/PDF version (which seems to be unavailable for download) and so is a little messy. Unfortunately, Sony's Computer Research Laboratory [csl.sony.fr] seems to be down at the moment. As an anthropologist interested in the evolution of speech, I'm absolutely fascinated by this, and whish I knew where to find more of the speech recognition software specs.

    Do androids dream of electric sheep yet?

  • place to buy or sell an original SONY AIBO. I have one for sale and was wondering where else to sell besides ebay. thanks

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