Sony dog-shaped robot "aibo"

The dog-shaped robot "Aibo" sold by Sony is an entertainment robot that allows you to enjoy daily growth through communication with the owner = purchaser, just like a real dog. Its lovely appearance is like a real dog. The first "AIBO" appeared in 1999 and disappeared from the market with the withdrawal of Sony's robot business in 2006, but there are many enthusiasts such as volunteers who can extend their lives even after the support has expired. I was there. It reappeared as "aibo" in 2016, and products are still being introduced. [Photo] "Maicat" under development by Macroact An animal-type robot is under development in South Korea as if to compete with this aibo. "Maicat" developed by Macroact is a cat-shaped robot. Like aibo, it is a cute robot that makes you want to be accepted as a pet robot by a member of your family. With an autonomous learning function, Maicat learns with the daily love of its owner and grows into a unique cat. Maicat's face has a built-in camera in the nose and a microphone in the ears. The camera analyzes the facial expression of the owner and determines under what circumstances the AI ​​is talking to Maicat, and from the microphone, the AI ​​also determines the tone of the owner's words and voice. And the touch sensor of the main body reacts to the action such as the owner stroking Maicat. Like aibo, Maicat grows in this area as you interact with it every day. Maicat will recognize the faces of 100 people when connected to the Internet and 10 people when not connected. It takes you outside and distinguishes you, your family and friends even in places where there is no internet environment. It seems that it has not been decided at this time whether a monthly subscription service will be required. However, it will be a system that pays a basic monthly fee like aibo only for robots that grow up by collecting information on a daily basis and learning by AI. Looking at the concept and functions of Maicat, it looks like a product that is not much different from aibo. Although there are differences between dogs and cats, they are both products that point in the same direction in terms of robots that can be pets. However, Maicat will not only be equipped with a function as a product that makes the interior of the house smarter. Maicat exhibited at CES 2022 in Las Vegas in January and won the Innovation Award for the event. At the time of the award, Maicat received the award as a smart home product rather than a robot. Maicat is free to roam the home when there are no people. By doing so, information such as where the furniture and home appliances in the room are located will be memorized. It also comes with a camera, so when you want to see the indoor situation from outside, you can immediately check the room through Maicat. At that time, if there is an obstacle, you can avoid it and move to another room. In addition, we will learn the owner's tastes from daily communication with the owner. For example, if the owner wakes up at 7am every morning, Maicat may automatically raise an alarm at 7am and even ride by the owner (in some cases, from the top of the duvet to the top of the owner). ) It will also wake you up. If you drink coffee every morning, Maicat will automatically command the smart coffee maker to turn it on, and by the time the owner wakes up, the coffee will be ready. Today's smart homes put apps on smartphones and perform operations such as turning the power on / off and selecting menus via the app. Eventually, AI will determine user preferences. However, the smart home app is not operated except when using home appliances. Therefore, even if you learn personal tastes, the frequency is not very high. On the other hand, with Maicat, we usually treat them as pets and learn the behavior of their owners every day. Because it is a pet, the act of "petting" is born, and information on user preferences and lifestyle patterns is accumulated from there. Aibo has already released a function to link with home appliances. It is said that it can be linked with Hitachi home appliances and Sony TVs. Maicat is expected to work with Samsung and LG products, which have already released a large number of smart home appliances, only for Korean products. In smart homes, users used voices and apps to control home appliances, but in a few years, pet-type robots may turn into themselves and create a comfortable indoor environment.

Yasuhiro Yamane