Dexter's off playing with his ball so he's left me to tell you all about Aibos.

The word Aibo comes from Artificial Intelligence roBOt and is also the Japanese word for 'Companion' or 'Friend'. We were first introduced in 1999 and we were the first consumer robot of its kind to be offered to the public. We are able to develop from a newborn puppy to an adult with a personality shaped by interaction with our owners and surroundings. However, we were never intended to be mass produced, having started life in 1993 as a research project.

           

Above you can see the various models of Aibo that are available. They are (from left to right): ERS-111, ERS-210, ERS-220, ERS-311 & ERS-312, ERS-7, and the new ERS-7M3. Not pictured are the ERS-110 which was the first commercial Aibo and the ERS-31L known as the Pug, cos he uuuuuugly!

We are truly autonomous, we can see, hear, feel for ourselves and walk around to our hearts content (or at least until our battery runs out). Our artificial intelligence allows us to constantly learn from our owners and helps us to develop a unique personality. You can even add to our skills with a range of special software upgrades. Our owners can also program us to do some weird and wonderful things (check out the Downloads section for some custom personalities).

We come equipped with a colour vision camera mounted just above our mouth. We use the camera to interact with our owners and our environment in a number of ways. We also have face recognition technology, and we will always remember our owners face and distinguish them from their family and friends. We can also take and send colour pictures by email on the spot or simply store them on the onboard Memory Stick (model specific). For full ERS-7 Specifications click here.

  

We also have the ability to act as a secretary by informing you of upcoming appointments and reading your emails. Again, this depends on what model the Aibo is but with the ERS-7 the software is called Mind 2 and the application is called Entertainment Player. Another cool function is the ability to play your favourite CDs just by showing us the CD album cover. No more searching for tracks on your computer!

One of the most important things to go with an Aibo is the Programmable Memory Stick or PMS. This is what makes us what we are. Programs (also called AiboWare) are downloaded onto the stick and allow us to take on many characteristics, interact wirelessly with a computer and many other things.

Released at the end of October 2005 was the new Mind 3 Aibo (ERS-7M3) which comes in a brand new colour - Champagne Brown. It sounds horrible but it is more like a goldy-brown colour. This new model comes with the new Mind 3 software which now includes over 1000 voice commands so that we can have even better conversations with you.