Posted on: Tuesday, December 4, 2001

Robot dog bows to your command

By Ric Manning
(Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal

Sony's AIBO is among the more expensive robot dogs, but it also has more features.

Remember when Furby and Teddy Ruxpin were the hot Christmas toys?

Mechanical animals are back this year. According to one toy industry report, sales of robots and virtual pets jumped 200 percent in the first half of this year when overall toy sales were up just 4 percent.

The latest crop of toy pets includes Shelby, a clam-shaped cousin to Furby, which was the top-selling toy in 1999.

Hasbro's $25 Shelby has a broader vocabulary of 275 words and more than 1,000 phrases and more memory than Furby. Like Furby, Shelby (hasbro.com) responds to light, sound and touch. It plays games and tells knock-knock jokes, but clams up at bedtime.

Different breeds of robodog

A far more sophisticated toy is i-Cybie, "a bio-rhythmically engineered dog" that can hear your voice and learn tricks — but won't soil the carpet.

The $199 robot dog from Tiger Electronics (tigertoys.com) looks as if it could have come from the same litter as Sony's $1,500 AIBO. It also has pointed ears, a wagging tail and motorized legs that navigate around the kitchen floor.

Like a real dog, i-Cybie has different moods. In a dark room, his tail is down, his eyes blink green and his mouth is closed. When he interacts with a human, his mouth is open and his tail wags.

The microphone in i-Cybie's head lets him hear and respond to his master's voice or hand claps. With a bit of training, the plastic pooch will wag his tail when he hears his name, sit, stay, offer a paw or do a headstand or push-up.

Call him "bad dog," and he lifts his leg.

Don't have the patience to train i-Cybie? You can get the same responses by punching in codes on the robot's remote control. Two i-Cybies in the same room will also start talking and playing with each other.

I-Cybie isn't as subtle and his movements aren't as fluid as AIBO. And he can't interact with a computer to provide digital photos or learn new tricks. But i-Cybie also doesn't have AIBO's Best in Show price tag.

Sony (sonystyle.com) has added two new members to the AIBO family. Latte and Macaron ($850 each) are puppy-sized robots that respond to 75 voice commands.

Like AIBO, the pups will perform movements stored on a Memory Stick and take dog's-eye photos. Like real dogs, they develop personalities based on how they are raised. Play with them too much, and they become spoiled. Ignore them, and they go looking for mischief.

Brainy, brawling bugs

B.I.O. Bugs are giant robot insects that go scooting round the floor scaring the Friskies out of the cats.

The bugs, $40 from Hasbro's WowWee Toys (wowwee.com), come in four designs, each with a different set of skills. The yellow Acceleraider, for example, is the fastest of the group while the red Predator is the most aggressive.

Each bug comes with a handheld remote that controls the toy's movements and acts as a feeding station and homing beacon. When a B.I.O. Bug gets "hungry," he returns to the remote to slurp up more energy.

Like the robotic dogs, the bugs are supposed to learn to navigate around obstacles. The wire probes on the robot's snout and tail tell them when they've encountered a wall or a chair.

The Acceleraider that I took home made it from my den to the kitchen on his own but got stuck in a corner and sat there chirping until rescued.

The B.I.O. Bug inventors say that's not unusual. In their early life stages, the bugs mostly wander around. As they grow, they become more skillful in dealing with their environment.

B.I.O. Bugs of the same species will learn to walk together or engage in friendly pushing and shoving.

Bugs of different species will fight each other, trying to stomp on each other's heads or butting heads until one backs down.

The winner moves up another skill level. The loser runs away squealing.