Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp yesterday introduced the latest two additions to its popular AIBO robot dog family with different characters.
The two new robots, called Latte and Macaron, will go on sale Sept. 22 for ?98,000 (US$824) in Japan, and Sony started processing orders yesterday next week, the company said in a statement.
"The basic personalities of adorable Latte and mischievous Macaron are set by the AIBO-ware software," Sony said.
PHOTO: AFP
But "human communication and the surrounding environment may alter the basic personalities of Latte and Macaron," it said.
The company will also take orders from customers in the US and Europe from Oct. 1 with deliveries of the robots overseas expected by early November, said company spokesperson Aki Shimazu.
"This time we focused on characteristics so that we can give owners a choice of personalities for their pets," said Shimazu.
"So far, the main buyers of AIBO have been male customers in their 20s and 30s, but we hope other people, especially female customers, will be interested in the latest AIBO models," she said.
Ivory colored Latte and dark gray Macaron can understand 75 simple words, and respond to the name they are given as well as the name of their owner. The two are also able to express emotion when they hear their owner's name, according to Sony.
Both have teddy bear-like faces and are equipped with 15 joints, enabling a more realistic smooth movement of the head and four legs in interacting with people, the statement said.
Latte and Macaron, codenamed ERS-311 and ERS-312 respectively, are also fitted with "media link functions" to respond to certain sounds from a television or radio and the Internet and express different emotions, depending on the sounds they capture.
A digital camera built into the mouth means they can to take color snapshots of their field of vision when they hear the command "Take a picture."
Sony was the first company to drag robots out of science fiction and into people's everyday lives, making a killing in the process.
When the first-generation AIBO went on sale in Tokyo in June 1999, 3,000 puppies were snapped up in just 20 minutes. Since then a total of 100,000 AIBOs have found homes in Japan and abroad.
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