No 8. Sony AIBO (Artificial Intelligence roBOt)
Launched in 1999, AIBO was a pet robot manufactured by Sony. This was part of the series of sophisticated pets which were able to learn and mature on the basis of external stimuli from their owners and environment. Resembling a dog, AIBO used a cam and microphone to interact with its surroundings. It could understand some Spanish words and phrases in addition to more than a 1000 english words. The price tag of this friendly machine was around 2000 $. Other smart features included Built-in wireless connectivity: remote control, music player, news reader, scheduler and diary. AIBO’s production was halted seven years after inception in 2006. This revolutionary robot was honored with a place in the Smithsonian Institute.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIraWI3ZM8Y[/youtube]
No 7. Sony QRIO (Quest for cuRIOsity)
This predecessor of AIBO is said to be the World’s first running humanoid robot. This bipedal entertainment robot stood 2 feet tall and weighed 7.3 kilograms. Developed and marketed by Sony, the product was discontinued before commercial production began. Unknown number of prototypes were created before the cancellation. QRIO was capable of voice and face recognition, making it able to remember people as well as their likes and dislikes. It holds the Guinness World record as being the first bipedal robot capable of running which it defines as moving while both legs are off the ground at the same time. This robot used three cameras to read its environment. Although QRIO never saw commercial launch yet it served as a stepping stone for the next generation robots especially its mobilization technology.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POuxHMEM2_Q[/youtube]
