Alive Robot Pet Animals

WowWee have now extended it's range of 'Alive' robot animals beyond Elvis and a chimpanese to include a panda, polar bear, white tiger cubs and a lion.

These new robot animals have realistic fur, an animated face and life-like sounds which are activated by touch and tilt sensors.

I think they'll cost around £60 when they come out some time this year.

Read more about the new range of robotic pet animals from their press release.

Check the lion out:

Wrex The Dog Review

The Wrex The Dog is a new, improved, Robopet robotic dog. And this is a rough and ready pet dog t hat will blow your socks off! He'll walk around your house on it's own, or will obey your commands via a remote control.

Following on from the tradition that other robotic pets have started, Wrex the Dog will have three personality modes - happy, crazy and angry, but he'll also desire exercise, food and to go to the toilet - yes you read that right!

He's due around September, October and will retail for around £80.

I-Cybie + Self Charger

The I-Cybie robotic dog with self charger senses movement, light changes, voice recognition, and obstacles. Bring this playful and interactive pet into your home.

Mechanical Features:

* 16-motor drive for exceptionally lifelike animation and responsiveness
* Hundreds of actions and animations
* Advanced Voice Recognition technology allows him to learn to respond to his owner's specific voice commands
* Responds to sound activation
* Intelligent sensor array for dynamic reactions with the environment: wall/obstacle detection prevents running into objects, and edge detection senses table edges and prevents falling down stairs
* Motion detection allows him to sense movement
* Dynamic drive feedback prevents i-Cybie from getting tangled
* Orientation sensor allows i-Cybie to stand up after falling over
* Sound sensors allow i-Cybie to determine the location of a sound source
* Touch sensors allow i-Cybie to detect being petted
* An IR transmitter/detector allows i-Cybie to communicate with other i-Cybie and Robo-Chi pets, sold separately

Personality Features:

* Advanced Artificial Intelligence creates a dynamic interactive pet
* i-Cybie develops and expands his behavior over time based on the interaction between himself and his owner
* Realistic emotional responses create a unique and individual experience for each i-Cybie and owner
* Evolves to a fully developed dog with a personality determined by his interaction with his owner
* Learns how to interact with his environment through processing cumulative experiences
* Can perform tricks, commanded by his owner
* Realistic/lifelike development needs
* i-Cybie needs care and feeding from his owner for complete development
* Responds to specific commands to behave and do tricks
* Special Remote Control allows for fast training of i-Cybie and access to many of his animations and tricks

The infamous i-Cybie Walk-Up charger (feeding station). This thing is absolutley amazing! When your dog senses that its batteries are running low, it will look around for its charger, locate it, and attach itself. When it's done charging, it will walk off the charger and go about its business.

It is very easy to over-charge and ruin your battery. This charger will take care of the over-charging problem, as the dog will release itself from the charger when the battery is fully charged.

Toy Robots Rating: 8/10

Buy the I-Cybie:
ii Robotics - £270

Genibo Robotic Pet Dog

For all those that missed out on the Aibo then the Genibo Robot Dog should still prove to be a good companion.

It understands 100 commands and like the Pleo Dinosaur has touch sensors in its back and head so you can calm him down.

Apparently if you leave it alone it wonders around, which is unlike any dog I had, they all seem to lay in the same spot all day.

It also can give you telephone numbers and keep your schedule for you.

It's due out in the near future in South Korea, but we're not sure of a UK release.

See the Genibo robot dog in action:

Pink Robopet

The Pink Robopet isn't the best toy robot out there, but for the price it's still worth considering if you're looking to buy in the £50-£60 price range.

The Robopet has the ability to explore without ever bumping into things or falling off edges. He can interact with you using his programmed personality, can follow a route you map out, can sit, beg, walk, run, roll over and see and avoid obstacles.

Toy Robots Rating: 6/10

Buy:
Argos - £59.99
Amazon - £29.99 (White)

Tags: White / Pink Robopet / Remote Controlled / Cheap / Pet

New Robot Toys from Hasbro

BUTTERSCOTCH (Approximate retail price: -£180]; Ages: 4 & Up; Availability: Autumn 2006)
"Mom, can I have a pony?" is a question that parents have heard from little girls for generations. This year, Hasbro's FURREAL FRIENDS brand gives girls the next best thing! BUTTERSCOTCH MY FURREAL FRIENDS PONY is a life-sized plush miniature pony that loves to be groomed and cared for. The BUTTERSCOTCH pony has many features similar to that of a real pony, including moving eyes, ears and head, soft fur coat and a swishing tail. Through sensors, BUTTERSCOTCH can feel when she is being groomed and will move her head toward you, and may whinny or snort. Just like a real pony, BUTTERSCOTCH loves carrots and can be "fed". Hold the pretend carrot to her face and she will open her mouth for it, or shake her head "no" if she has had enough. Kids can even sit on BUTTERSCOTCH and she will gently bounce.

I-CAT (Approximate retail price: [£19.99]; Ages 8 & up; Available: Autumn 2006)
This is one cool cat! The I-CAT Interactive Music Companion is a fabulous feline that not only loves to listen to your favorite tunes but can but add funky 'scratch' sound effects to the music and will groove along to any song it hears. Owners can plug their music systems directly into I-CAT Interactive Music Companion and music will broadcast through a built-in speaker. Simply petting I-CAT will allow owners to mix things up and add meows, purrs and 'scratch' sound effects to the music! Owners can alter the music depending on how they touch or pet I-CAT, making this new interactive pet the cat's meow! Owners can also sit I-CAT in front of a speaker or plug it into the headphone jack of any music system and I-CAT will move and groove to the rhythm of the song. In addition, I-CAT Interactive Music Companion comes complete with a dual jack so that its owner can plug their headphones in and dance along to the music with I-CAT. Either way the owner chooses to listen to their favorite tune, as soon as I-CAT hears music, its face will light up or its ears and head will wiggle and sway in sync with the tune.

TRANSFORMERS CYBERTRON PRIMUS (Approximate Retail Price: [£29.99]; Ages: 5 & Up; Available: Summer 2006)
Standing an impressive 14 inches tall in robot mode, CYBERTRON PRIMUS changes from the TRANSFORMERS home planet to a giant robot. CYBERTRON PRIMUS comes with one CYBER PLANET KEY and the OMEGA LOCK which activates multiple features including electronic lights and sounds, and launching missiles. Includes one CYBER PLANET KEY and two A76 or LR44 size batteries. (Additional Batteries Required) 2 1.5v "AA" or LR6 size.

* Please note, I've changed the prices to be in GBP - they're only guesses and not an indication of the expected price.

Pet Robots give positive health effects

Research at Purdue University showed that owning and interacting with a pet robot such as a Sony Aibo results in much the same companionship as an animal pet.

The study wasn't funded by Sony but was based on a questionnaire given to a small group of elderly individuals about the quality of life both before and after their ownership of an Aibo. A similar study was conducted of 6 to 15 year olds and found that robots "could be a good companion."

The learnings of the study included the assertion that a pet robot could help to encourage social interaction. So artificial pets can produce real benefits to individuals. If some people have allergies or are not in a mental state to look after a real-life pet, an artificial one should be considered if companionship is required or confidence needs building.

Not one to find in Santa's Sack

The first regional camel race featuring robots was held Feb 11th afer children were banned due to concerns about their safety.

The robots look fairly neat but I don't expect the press to be going wild about them this Christmas. I don't think we'll be seeing pet dog races down the housing estates of Swindon with these fellas on their backs!