Anki’s Intelligent, Learning Toy Robot, Cozmo, Starts Shipping For $180

It is safe to say our views about robots are greatly influence by Hollywood. Depending on your movie preference, you will either fear the potential of robots or go ‘awwww…’ with them. If you belongs to the former, San Francisco-based high-tech toy creator Anki is here to quell your irrational fear with its first robot toy, Cozmo. Anki did not explicitly mention it, but somehow we have a feeling that Cozmo has a teeny weeny bit of Wall-E influence in it. Not surprisingly as former Pixar animator was charged with translating animation into real life interactions and movements.

Like Wall-E, Cozmo does not talk. Instead, it has a face that expresses his emotions, along with cute sound effect that will set any heart fluttering. In other words, the design of the Cozmo together with his actions all adds up to cuteness. On top of it, he is not just a toy. He is an intelligent one too. Armed with sophisticated artificial intelligence that will not threaten to take over the world and an onboard camera, found just under his ‘face’, Cozmo is a learning robot that is aware of his surround and also has the ability to recognize you. And like a real life person, it is wary of you when it begins, but as you spend more time with it, he will familiarize himself with you and builds a relationship through games and other interactions – all powered by a mobile app.

At the heart of Cozmo is an AI that enables it to learn, much like a person, growing from a child to a person who is intelligent, and even remember his history with you. Now this may scare the hell out of A.I.phonic folks, but trust us, Cozmo meant no harm. Ok, maybe to be safe, try not to go nasty on him. Nah. We are just kidding. Anywho, it is hard to imagine how intelligent and how extensive Cozmo’s expression are until you see it in action. Speaking of which, you can witness Cozmo in action yourself in the promo video below.

Anki Cozmo Intelligent Toy Robot was first introduced back in June and it starts shipping today, priced at $179.99 a pop – a price which, arguably, is not for everyone.

Images courtesy of Anki.