Cozmo is an adorable little robot that has a unique personality through a constantly learning artificial intelligence software inside that adapts to each different family.
The new product from toymaker Anki is not an ordinary walking robot toy like the previous ones. Cozmo really comes to life with its own personality and character that would hopefully emulate a pet in the household, minus the house training and such.
Anki is known for their mini self-driving toy cars the Anki Drive and Anki Overdrive but Cozmo is an entirely different product altogether simply because the makers aimed to make it sentient with a defined personality, Polygon has learned. Most people that see Cozmo would be reminded of the popular Wall-E robot from the Pixar film of the same name.
Anki CEO Boris Sofman said that they were primarily inspired by pets and toddlers which explains the size and preset personality of the toy AI robot. Cozmo learns how to behave in the world around it by interacting with the environment and the family.
Users can play games with Cozmo and his or her reaction will also change depending on whether the user wins or loses. The robot also "sleeps" with a snoring sound to really let people know that it is sleeping.
Cozmo will have a price tag of $180 and will be sold starting on October, The Verge reported. Anki designed the robot to be for children ages eight and up which means that it would not be the best gift for younger toddlers as they could choke on the small size of Cozmo.
The robot has several sensors that help it to navigate around its surroundings without bumping into things or falling off of the stairs or a table. Under the hood, Cozmo also has an emotion engine which allows it to react and adapt to whatever is happening around it.
Cozmo was also developed thanks to the help of former Pixar animator Carlos Baena. They also used the Autodesk Maya software for animation and to help them develop the movements of Cozmo and to add emotional cues which makes it more lifelike.