Editing AIBO (section)

==History==

The AIBO product line was developed at Sony's Computer Science Laboratory (CSL). Founded in 1990, CSL was set up to emulate the innovation center at ''the'' [[PARC (company)|Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)]]. CSL's first product was the Aperios operating system, which later formed the base software used by some AIBO models. When [[Nobuyuki Idei]] became president of Sony in 1995, he sought to adopt a digital agenda and gave greater prominence to CSL.<ref name="technologyreview.com">{{cite web |last=Johnstone |first=Bob |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/400610/california-dreamin-sony-style/ |title=California Dreamin' Sony Style {{pipe}} MIT Technology Review |publisher=Technologyreview.com |date=2000-01-01 |access-date=2013-03-10 |archive-date=2013-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424040752/http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/400610/california-dreamin-sony-style/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Two AIBO Prototypes and transparent ERS-7.jpg|thumb|Two AIBO prototypes and transparent ERS-7]]
Dr. [[Toshitada Doi]] is credited as AIBO's original progenitor: in 1994 he had started work on robots at CSL with artificial intelligence expert Masahiro Fujita. Fujita felt that the robot's behaviors needed to "be sufficiently complex or unexpected so that people keep an interest in watching or taking care of it".<ref>[Fujita, M. & Kitano, H. (1998). Development of an autonomous quadruped robot for robot entertainment. Autonomous Robots, 5, 7-20.]</ref> Fujita argued at the time that, while technologies such as voice recognition and vision were not mature enough for critical applications, their limited capabilities could be a novel, interesting and attractive feature for "appropriately designed entertainment robots". His early monkey-like prototype "MUTANT" included behaviors such as tracking a yellow ball, shaking hands, karate strikes and sleeping, which were later adopted in AIBOs. Fujita received the IEEE Inaba Technical Award for Innovation Leading to Production for AIBO as "the world's first mass-market consumer robot for entertainment applications".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ieee-ras.org/awards-recognition/society-awards/69-awards-recognition/society-awards/59-ieee-inaba-technical-award-for-innovation-leading-to-production |title=IEEE Inaba Technical Award for Innovation Leading to Production - IEEE Robotics and Automation Society |publisher=Ieee-ras.org |access-date=2013-03-10 |archive-date=2014-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222025717/http://www.ieee-ras.org/awards-recognition/society-awards/69-awards-recognition/society-awards/59-ieee-inaba-technical-award-for-innovation-leading-to-production |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Artist [[Hajime Sorayama]] was enlisted to create the initial designs for the AIBO's body.<ref name="This Cute Little Pet Is a Robot" />  Those designs are now part of the permanent collections of the [[Museum of Modern Art]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/82163|title=The Collection {{pipe}} Hajime Sorayama and Sony Corporation, company design. Aibo entertainment robot (ERS-110). 1999|date=2012-11-05|publisher=MoMA|access-date=2013-03-10}}</ref> and the [[Smithsonian Institution]]. The first generation AIBO design won Japan's prestigious Good Design Award, Grand Prize<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.g-mark.org/award/describe/25081?token=IaLMoVwUvZ|title=エンタテインメントロボット [AIBO（アイボ）・ERS-110] {{pipe}} 受賞対象一覧 {{pipe}} Good Design Award|publisher=G-mark.org|language=ja|access-date=2013-03-10}}</ref> and a special Intelligent Design award at the 2000 German Red Dot awards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://deconstructingproductdesign.com/sony-aibo/|title=Deconstructing Product Design by William Lidwell and Gerry Manacsa » Sony AIBO|date=2009-08-22|publisher=Deconstructingproductdesign.com|access-date=2013-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130320234808/http://deconstructingproductdesign.com/sony-aibo/|archive-date=2013-03-20|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1997 Doi received backing from Idei to form Sony's Digital Creatures Lab.<ref name="This Cute Little Pet Is a Robot">{{cite news|url=http://www.businessweek.com/stories/1999-05-23/this-cute-little-pet-is-a-robot |title=This Cute Little Pet Is a Robot |newspaper=Business Week |date=24 May 1999 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719094129/http://www.businessweek.com/stories/1999-05-23/this-cute-little-pet-is-a-robot |archive-date=19 July 2013 |access-date=19 January 2013}}</ref> Believing that robots would be commonplace in households by 2010, but aware of the shortcomings of available technology for functional uses, he decided to focus on robots for entertainment. The AIBO responded to over 100 voice commands and talked in a tonal language, or talked like a human and made other noises if programmed to. Two of the first generation AIBOs exported into the US came to New York, NY and one remains in the archives and displays at Artspace Company Y LLC.

Later models of AIBOs were designed jointly with prestigious Japanese designers, and continued to gain design awards. The ERS-210 design was inspired by lion cubs. The bodies of the "ERS-3x" series (Latte and Macaron, the round-headed AIBOs released in 2001) were designed by visual artist Katsura Moshino winning the Good Design Award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.g-mark.org/award/describe/27471?token=IaLMoVwUvZ|title=エンタテインメントロボット AIBO [ERS-300シリーズ"ラッテ＆マカロン"] {{pipe}} 受賞対象一覧 {{pipe}} Good Design Award|publisher=G-mark.org|language=ja|access-date=2013-03-10}}</ref> The sleek and futuristic, space-exploration inspired body of the "ERS-220" was designed by [[Shoji Kawamori]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.plasticpals.com/?p=7957|title=• AIBO ERS-220|date=2013-01-24|publisher=Plasticpals.com|access-date=2013-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924074057/http://www.plasticpals.com/?p=7957|archive-date=2015-09-24|url-status=dead}}</ref> winning the Good Design Award<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.g-mark.org/award/describe/27470?token=IaLMoVwUvZ|title=エンタテインメントロボット AIBO [ERS-220] {{pipe}} 受賞対象一覧 {{pipe}} Good Design Award|publisher=G-mark.org|language=ja|access-date=2013-03-10}}</ref> and a Design for Asia award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dfaaward.com/2012/page/kr/winners/2003.php|title=Design for Asia Award 2012|publisher=Dfaaward.com|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130215195018/http://www.dfaaward.com/2012/page/kr/winners/2003.php|archive-date=2013-02-15|url-status=dead|access-date=2013-03-10}}</ref> The ERS-7 Also won a Good Design Award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.g-mark.org/award/describe/28437?token=IaLMoVwUvZ|title=エンターテインメントロボット [AIBO ERS-7] {{pipe}} 受賞対象一覧 {{pipe}} Good Design Award|publisher=G-mark.org|language=ja|access-date=2013-03-10}}</ref>

Almost ten years later, Idei's successor, [[Howard Stringer]] closed down AIBO and other robotic projects. Doi then staged a mock funeral, attended by more than 100 colleagues from Sony.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Shea, Michael |url=http://www.theskinny.co.uk/tech/features/whokilledaibo |title=Who Killed AIBO the Robotic Dog? |date=27 July 2015 |magazine=[[The Skinny (magazine)|The Skinny]] |access-date=9 January 2016}}</ref> At the ceremony, Doi said that the AIBO was a symbol of a risk-taking spirit at Sony that was now dead.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117285593145024927 |title=Caught between two worlds, the Sony chief tightens his management grip. Will it work? |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |author=YUKARI IWATANI KANE |author2=PHRED DVORAK |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702031421/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117285593145024927 |archive-date=July 2, 2015 |pages=A1 |date=March 3, 2007 }} [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=144875 Alt URL]</ref>

In November 2017, Sony Corporation announced that AIBO would return with a new model that would be capable of forming an emotional bond with users.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201711/17-105E/index.html|title=Entertainment Robot "Aibo" Announced|website=Sony Global - Sony Global Headquarters|language=en|access-date=2017-12-05}}</ref>