By Tom Henderson
Small Times Senior Writer
July 2, 2001 — While designers say that toys must come in under $19.95 to make it to the marketplace, there is a growing niche for high-end toys.
Sony’s AIBO — pronounced “eye-bo” — was introduced to market in May of 1999 and quickly became a cult favorite in Japan, where there are a host of Web sites devoted to the metal, MEMS-laden dogs.
About 11 inches high and 9 inches long, it is packed with small tech — including sensors in the head, chin and back to respond to petting and tickling. It also has vibration sensors, infrared distance sensors, a temperature sensor and an accelerometer and has a tail-based light-emitting diode (LED) that displays its “happiness.”
AIBO also responds to 50 spoken words or voice commands that it learns, even reacting to an owner’s tone of voice. It even has a camera hidden in its mouth to take a picture when instructed to do so.
AIBO is a play on the Japanese word for partner, “aibou” and also an acronym for Artificial Intelligent roBOt.
It misses that $19.95 price point substantially. Special anniversary models just released for sale over the Internet and by phone retail for $1,650. Though if you don’t want one of those specially colored models — Everest white, sapphire violet and mazeran green — you can get an AIBO for $1,500.
AIBO has a growing U.S. following. Its fans have a Web site, with links to photos of the meetings of the AIBOS group in Los Angeles (AIBOS “playing” while their owners eat), and the Web page of the engineer who posted a dairy of his dog, up to and including its old-age: The battery wore out near the end of his first year, causing the dog to frequently wet itself and walk as though its rear legs were weak.
LEGO MINDSTORMS, a series of robotic devices powered by small tech, is a lot closer to the industry price point, but still high.
Combining standard LEGO pieces with sensors and sensor-related accessories, MINDSTORMS products range from $39.99 for an android with a light sensor to the $199 Robotics Invention System, which includes microcontrollers that tell the robots what to do. They are programmed by PCs and are equipped with a variety of touch and light sensors and accelerometers.
Including accessories, the high-end system can run more than $300.
MINDSTORMS have become popular classroom tools in public school science classes and college engineering programs.
Related story: Smart toys will break cost barrier in 2-5 years
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CONTACT THE AUTHOR:
Tom Henderson at [email protected] or call 734-994-1106, ext. 233.