QRIO
QRIO ("Quest for cuRIOsity", originally started as Sony Dream Robot or SDR) is Sony's contribution in the race to develop fully operational bipedal humanoid robots. It stands approximately two feet tall and weighs 16 pounds. Its features and capabilities are comparable to Honda's Asimo, though far superior in balance and movement - partially due to the smaller size and weight of its body.
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On January 26, 2006 Sony announced that it would stop development of QRIO. It will also discontinue AIBO and several other products. [1]
QRIO's slogan reads "Makes life fun, makes you happy!". It is Sony's next step in entertainment robots after the success of AIBO. Currently it is going through numerous development, testing and scalability phases. QRIO is Sony's corporate ambassador. Sony has intentions to make it commercially available but in 3 or 4 more years.
QRIO is also capable of voice and face recognition, making it able to remember people, as well as their likes and dislikes. A video on QRIO's website shows it speaking with several children.
Hell Yes, a music video by recording artist Beck, features four Sony QRIO robots dancing. It took programmers three weeks to program their choreography. The video is available at the Beck website. [2]
QRIO is credited in the Guiness World Records book (2005 edition) as being the fastest running humanoid robot. It states he is the first bipedal robot capable of running (which it defines as moving while both legs are off the ground at the same time). QRIO can run at 23cm/second.
It is unknown how many QRIO prototypes exist currently, however 10 QRIO once performed a dance routine together. This was confirmed by a Sony representative at the Museum of Science in Boston, MA on January 22, 2006. The Sony representative also said that the two robots he was demonstrating were used in the Beck video and were in fact a fourth generation prototype (lacking a third camera in the center of the forehead and better working hands, among other improvements) and were two to three years old.
QRIO's (4th generation) internal battery lasts about 1 hour.
External links
- SONY Dream Robot QRIO
- Three QRIOs perform Para Para dance
- Four QRIOs perform various dance numbers
- Four QRIOS dancing on the "Hell Yes" music video by Beck. This is the same choreography used on the link above.
- QRIO dances Samba during a presentation to schoolchildren in Brazil (video in Portuguese)