Sony AIBO Gains New Skills With AIBO MIND 2 Software and Steps Out in Pearl Black Style

BERLIN (Germany) October 6 (PROTEXT/PRNewswire) - Replace MP3players and PDAs with AIBO. With the advanced new AIBO MIND 2software, AIBO gains the ability to record moving pictures hroughwireless connectivity, recognise patterns, voices and faces, obeycommands to play music from MP3 lists or Internet radio and dancealong, read out scheduled items and wake you!AIBO- the life and soul of the party

Here you are, host of the party and it's time for AIBO toentertain your friends. "AIBO, play music!" you say and yourcompanion complies, playing out random songs from your favouriteCDs from its built in speaker while dancing to the tunes. WhenAIBO is finished your friends have their turn, showing your partyanimal one of your selection of CDs and marvelling as AIBOrecognises the cover and plays the music they've selected. AIBOisn't finished with its magic however as it can pick up and playmusic from Internet radio stations or from your MP3 playlist inresponse to your spoken commands.

Much more than a musical entertainer, improved Navigatorfunctions and wireless networking mean AIBO can be an even moreinteractive aid to party hosts. AIBO can send back sound andvision to your PC from a head mounted camera and microphones andtransmit your voice through its speaker, so the fun possibilitiesare endless. Send AIBO into a circle of your friends, whileyou monitor movements from your PC, then observe their startledreactions as AIBO addresses them in your voice. You can evenrecord the fun to play back as a video on your PC later.AIBO the personal assistant

The party is winding down; you and your friends are makingplans for meeting up the next day. "AIBO, What's my calendar?"you ask and again your clever companion comes to your aid,reading out your appointments from your PC calendar. An earlymorning start is planned so AIBO is assigned the task of wakingyou with some pleasant music from your collection at theappointed time. You know of course that your home is in goodhands while you are out - AIBO performs house sitting duties,catching cookie thieves red handed by recording any movement andnoise, then emailing any activity to you. AIBO knows its friendshowever; it certainly recognises your face and voice!AIBO the carefree companion

There's no need for you to look after AIBO though. When itsbattery needs recharging, AIBO simply goes to its Energy Stationat any time of the day or night. When AIBO is bored it can playwith its AIBOne which it can chase, pick up and bring back toyou, or its pink ball with which it can play football- AIBO caneven race between obstacles! AIBO can even show its emotions -it'll let you know how it's feeling by the many expressions onits face panel- so give your friend a pat to express yourunderstanding and to develop its personality. If you already havea new AIBO ERS-7 model, a simple upgrade will add all the newfeatures, but retain the personality and memory of your playfulpal. Although AIBO will learn to recognise its tasks and obeyyour commands, you can set it back to a puppy stage for playwhenever you want, before switching back to mature mode whenthere's work to be done.

"Always an intelligent and versatile friend, AIBO has nowbecome much, much more," says Nicolas Babin, Director of SonyEntertainment Robot Europe. "The development of the AIBO MIND 2software now included with the pearlescent white and new blackAIBO model represents an important milestone in the history ofdomestic robots. Now AIBO is truly a functioning, responsive partof the modern family, fulfilling important organisational andvisual tasks as well as providing entertainment andcompanionship."NOTES FOR EDITORS

Please find below further details about products and serviceshighlighted in the Press Release:About AIBO ERS-7M2

AIBO is an autonomous, intelligent companion from SonyEntertainment Robot Europe that responds to voice commands, usesintegrated camera and various sensors or pattern recognition tofulfil tasks and connects to a wireless network to become part ofa home entertainment.. Available in two colours- the standardpearl white and the new pearl black body (with various body partsdefined in dark grey metallic and brown and grey smoke colours)the AIBO ERS-7M2 now includes AIBO Mind 2 software to performeven more impressive tasks and take full advantage of AIBO'scapabilities (see below for more on MIND 2).

AIBO has specially developed tactile touch sensors on itsback, head and chin that double as remote control sensors forcommands and as receptors for interacting with its owners (AIBOlearns and develops with more human interaction). The AIBO ERS-7also features Illume-Face, Sony's innovative LED face panel thatprovides a way for the robot to express its feelings, emotionsand current conditions. The LED display also indicates when AIBOis transmitting images and sounds or receiving sound over awireless connection

The Sony AIBO ERS-7 with AIBO MIND 2 will be available inNovember 2004 in pearl black (ERS-7M2/B) and pearl white (ERS-7M2/W) colours.About MIND 2 Software

The AIBO MIND 2 software supplied with Sony's companionbrings a new level of artificial intelligence to entertainmentrobotics. It is split into the AIBO Entertainment Player (AEP)and a range of new Autonomous functions. The AEP can beconfigured and controlled from the PC screen and is furtherdivided into three main features. The Music Player componentmanages AIBO's playlist of MP3 music and Internet radio stationsenabling AIBO to playback music and dance along following a PC,voice or visual cue. The Navigator component allows AIBO to becontrolled remotely including using a microphone to transmit yourvoice through AIBO's speaker, allows monitoring of video andsounds (with a new video recording option) and provides improvedreaction speed to remote commands. Finally the Scheduler providespersonal time management by importing calendars from the PC diaryand reading the schedules out, converting Text to Speech on thePC and streaming the speech to PCM audio for AIBO to play andrespond to with actions. There's no need for a clock radio eitheras Scheduler ensure that AIBO will play music at your programmedwake-up time.

AIBO's new autonomous features include a new pick up mode andtricks; 'House Sitter' mode for responding to noise or movementby recording and emailing sound and pictures, using intervalrecording mode; there is also faster reaction to voice commandsand improved obstacle avoidance as well as optimised self-charging.

AIBO has sophisticated visual pattern recognition featuresenabling it to remember specific objects and patterns - justcontrol AIBO to locate an object such as a CD cover using itsbuilt-in video camera, then select capture on the controlsoftware and assign an action for AIBO to perform when itrecognises the object. The head-mounted camera is capable ofrecording motion and pictures either at intervals or in acontinuous stream, then can take advantage of IEEE 802.11bwireless networking to transmit pictures, movies and sound to anetworked PC or over a DSL Internet. Reactions have also beenimproved, with AIBO able to respond to many specific spokencommands in conjunction with the MIND 2 software and to replyusing Text To Speech technology when asked about the owner'sschedule. Other major audio features include a built-in speakerto play music from many popular formats or from Internet radio,again streamed to AIBO using wireless networking. Of course thisbeing AIBO and no mere music player, the artificially intelligentcompanion will dance along and play in response to the music andmove in response to the playback of specific words. AIBO can beoperated under remote control or can act in autonomous mode, butpictures and sound can be monitored from the PC at any time,allowing you to see and hear everything as AIBO roams around.

AIBO MIND 2 software will be available in November 2004,included with the new ERS-7M2 models or as an upgrade kit forexisting ERS-7 owners (AIBO MIND 2 inherits the personality ofthe owner's current AIBO with MIND software).Key specifications:SONY AIBO ERS-7 with MIND 2- Dimensions :180 (W) x 278 (H) x 319 (D) mm- Weight Approx. 1.65kg (including battery & memory stick)- CPU : 64bit RISC Processor- CPU Clock Speed : 576MHz- Memory: 64Mbyte SDRAM, Memory Stick for Program Storage- Movable Parts- Mouth - 1 degree of freedom- Head - 3 degrees of freedom- Leg - 3 degrees of freedom x 4 legs- Ear - 1 degree of freedom x 2- Tail - 2 degrees of freedom- Camera :CMOS Image Sensor 350,000 pixels- IEEE 802.11b (Integrated)Wireless LAN Card- Audio: Miniature Microphones, Miniature Speaker, 20.8mm,500mW,MIDI, Volume Switch- Built-in Sensors- Infrared Distance Sensor (head, body)- Acceleration Sensor- Electric Static Sensor (head, back)- Pressure Sensor (chin, paws (4)- Vibration Sensor- Temperature Sensor- Power Consumption: Approx. 7W (Standard operation in autonomousmode)- Operating Time: Approx. 1.5 Hours (Standard operation inautonomous mode)- Charging Time: Approx. 2.5 Hours- LED mode and emotion lights :- Illume face: 24 LED (white 12, red 4, blue 4, green4)- Ear : 2 (left & right)- Head sensor : 2 (white and amber)- Head (wireless LAN on/off) : 1(blue- Back sensor : 16 (white 8, red 3, blue 3, orange 2- Supplied Accessories:- AIBO MIND 2 (software), Energy station, Energy station pole, ACadapter, Lithium Ion Battery pack, Pink ball, AIBOne, AIBO Cards,Documentation CD-ROM containing Installer, AEP and RFW, WLAN,Manager and PDF Manuals, Paper Manual.AIBO Mind 2 System Requirements- AIBO ERS-7- Microsoft(R) Windows(R) PC- OS: Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP (SP1/SP2) / Windows(R) 2000Professional (SP4)- Language : English, Japanese- CPU : Intel(R) Pentium III 800MHz, EUR256MB Memory, EUR120MBHDD- 3D Graphic Card with 16MB or more VRAM- Microsoft(R) Direct Sound(R) compatible sound card- Memory Stick(TM) Reader & Writer- (Software requirements)- Direct X 9.0 Microsoft(R) DirectX(R)- Windows Media Player 9- TTS (Microsoft Speech API)- Microsoft(R) Outlook(R) (optional)- Wireless LAN- IEEE802.11b Access point (P2P not recommended due to functionallimitations)- DSL (Dial-up not recommended)

In addition, for any queries about Sony in your respectivecountry, please contact your local Sony PR office.About Sony:

Sony manufactures audio, video, communications andinformation technology products for the global consumer andprofessional markets. With its music, pictures, game and onlinebusinesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to become a leadingpersonal broadband entertainment company in the 21st century. InEurope, Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of EUR 13.47billion (yen 1,765 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31,2004, based on an average market exchange rate for the sameperiod of yen 131 to the EUR. Sony Europe, headquartered at theSony Center am Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, is responsible for thecompany's European electronics business and registeredconsolidated sales of EUR 8.71 billion for the fiscal year endedMarch 31, 2004.

For more information on Sony Europe, please visithttp://www.sony-europe.com and http://www.sony-europe.com/presscenterSource: Sony Europe GmbHFor more information, please contact: Georges Gérard, CorporateCommunications Europe / Sony Europe GmbH, Tel. +33-1-5590-3287email: Georges.Gerard@eu.sony.com Sylvia Shin, CorporateCommunications Europe / Sony Europe GmbH, tel: +49-30-2575-5156email: Sylvia.Shin@eu.sony.com

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