Sony Brings Back It's Robot Dog, Aibo

Does anyone else remember this little guy? Back in elementary school, I remember a classmate bringing one of these in for show and tell, and it blew my mind. A robot dog?! The future! He was packed full of sensors with allowed him to respond to touch and voice commands. He could walk around, bark, fetch his bone; you could even train him! The more he was played with, the more he would develop a personality. 

The picture on the left is of the first model of Aibo, released in 1999. He was given updates till 2005, but in 2004, it was announced that Aibo would no longer be supported, and the line would be discontinued in 2006. 

Last year, it was announced that Aibo was making a comeback, in January 2018. This is what he looks like now: 

photo taken from The Verge

Back, and cuter than ever. Smarter than ever too, being integrated with sony's "deep learning technology". Aibo's head, paws, chin, and back are touch sensitive, his nose is a camera, his eyes are 2 OLED displays, and he's connected to the Internet 24/7 thanks to his WiFi chip or LTE sim card. When he's getting low on batteries, a camera on his back helps him navigate the house till he finds his charing pad and takes a nap, which happens about every three hours of playing with him. With his nose being a camera, he does more than just roam; he'll search with you for his bone, and he knows it's you he's searching with, as he has facial recognition through that camera. Aibo's movements seem almost natural, if not a little slow, and he's expressive when you interact with him. 

The only thing not cute about Aibo is the price tag, $1,800, plus a $27 subscription to the software that controls him. If you do the math, maybe it's cheaper than owning a real dog in the long run, but that's still a hefty price. I'll probably just wait for show and tell.