[hme]

I own both an old ERS-7 and a Cozmo. It's striking how much Aibo is a likeable thing, full of surprise compared to Cozmo. I really noticed it when I got Cozmo. It's a shame given the amount of computational power Cozmo gets from the smartphone, and its way better camera. But I guess the constraints forced Aibo engineers into a more subtle and intelligent design. I'm disappointed, I really hoped for something unbelievable like Aibo was ten years ago.

[edshiro]

I am thinking of getting Cozmo. What's your review on it? I'd also be interested in knowing how much we can tweak Cozmo (e.g. can we implement new features using computer vision, does it have its own programming language, etc,)

[hme]

The toy itself is not very fun. Even pretty annoying sometimes (like the stupid daily calibration task). It has no brain, you have to dedicate a smartphone to this. It's a very wrong move I think, though I understand the cost benefits. But the worst part is that almost every interaction with the robot goes first through the smartphone UI (like triggering a request for a game). It totally kills the experience, and makes it painful for parents of small kids, too young to have a phone. I have read somewhere that they hired some expert game designers and hollywood concept artists from Wall-E to design the actual experience. My harsh feeling is that it's the worst idea ever, it feels very much like a bad hollywood blockbuster, no subtlety but only misplaced costly special effects and tricks. I had little expectations though, I bought it to tweak it (someday). It uses a python SDK, you have to connect a dedicated smartphone to your computer, and the python SDK connects to the Cozmo app on the phone to send commands. Apparently the SDK is good, and the team seems serious about supporting this.

[BJanecke]

Someone's been reading Fred Brooks ;)

[hme]

I have not, does he write about the Aibo development history ?

[BJanecke]

He writes about Design, and also likes to call it a game of constraints(paraphrasing).