Get Yourself a Sony Aibo Robot Dog that’s Equally Cute & Useful

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Ask any dog lover, and they will say that dogs are a joy to have. But as much as you love them, there are a list of things to consider, cause these lovely fluffballs require a lot of work to stay healthy and cute. So as predicted by rumours, Sony returns with a newer model of their iconic pet brand called Aibo (model number ERS-1000) – an invention that “can form an emotional bond with members of the household while providing them with love, affection, and the joy of nurturing and raising a companion,” according to the company. Now you can own a dog without the extra obligation!

Sony is also releasing the ‘Aibone’, which costs ¥2,980.

Using ultra-compact actuators to give the robot realistic movements, the Aibo sports two OLED panels to show a range of expressions through its eyes. On top of that, the Aibo is adaptable enough so it can gradually grow used to bigger environment, and seek its owners to learn what makes its human happy. The hyper-realistic intelligence of the Aibo is credited to deep learning technology that analyses the sounds and images coming through Aibo’s array of sensors, and uses cloud data to learn from the experiences of other Aibo units and owners. It’ll take three hours of recharge time for the Aibo, which has two hours of battery life.

Aibo is already available for preorder in Japan, and will go on sale on 11 January ’18. The robo-companion retails at ¥198,000 (around RM7345 after conversion), which will also include a monthly subscription fee of ¥2980 (RM111). That’s a hefty price tag for what is essentially a toy, but you wouldn’t be able to purchase it outside of Japan for now anyway.

Interested in the history of Aibo? Find more about the series of robo-dogs here.