Sony is one of the leading companies when it comes to research in new technologies, especially in the area of digital systems and robotics. It is no wonder that the company's Artificial Intelligence roBOt or the AIBO, which sounds like 'pal' in the Japanese language has been a huge success. The robotic dog was first introduced by Sony on May 11, 1999 and has assembled a cult following in the last few years.
The initial designs of AIBO were prepared by Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama. The evolutionary design work was done by the industrial designers of Sony in house. The production of AIBO was stopped by Sony in 2006 in an effort to make the company more profitable. The support for AIBO will continue from Sony until 2013, though only for the ERS7 model.
The robotic dog has certainly been a revolutionary device. What made it so special is not just the fact that the robotic dog is able to see its surroundings using a built in camera but also the fact that it can use the data gathered by its camera to walk around the place. Thanks to the advanced artificial intelligence algorithms programmed in AIBO, it is able to judge its surroundings at a very rapid pace. It is this fact that AIBO does not need active human guidance to move around random spaces in a random manner which qualifies it as an autonomous robot.
Another key aspect of AIBO is that it has microphones installed in its ears which allows it to hear and interpret specific commands given in English or Spanish. The robot also has the ability to interpret and learn from external stimuli and symbols. It is this ability of the robotic dog to learn and evolve by taking cues from external stimuli that has helped scientists make extreme progress in the areas of both advanced robotics and 'intelligent' artificial intelligence. The fact that Aibo has a huge potential meant that Sony released a complete Aibo Software Development Environment for non-commercial usage. Using this, a number of people have reprogrammed their dogs so as to 'teach' it a number of new tricks.
In addition to this, Sony has also released AIBOware which is special piece of software that allows the dog to grow from a 'puppy' to a mature 'dog'. AIBOware runs from a special, pink colored memory stick which allows it to recognize as many as 100 voice commands. Plus, it allows Aibo to recognize its charging station and visit it when it is low on battery, allowing it to 'feed' itself for all intents and purposes.
Even though the product has been discontinued, Sony has promised that the Aibo technology will be used in its upcoming products.
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