Fans of the $2,000 robotic dog, Aibo, mourned when maker Sony Corp. put the project to sleep four months ago to cut costs.
Now Seoul, South Korea-based DasaTech has unveiled plans for a next-generation robot dog named Genibo for genius robot. Genibo stands a foot tall and understands 100 verbal commands, including sit, roll over and wag tail. The company says Genibo can navigate around obstacles, and that petting the robot will induce a happy expression (on the dog and on you). A camera built into Genibos snout means your real dog can take a night off from his watchdog duties.
The company will sell Genibo in 2007 for an as-yet-unannounced price.
Posted: May 1, 2006, 5 a.m. EST