Café in Japan holds play dates for ROBOTIC dogs and their owners

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Who’s a good bot? Café in Japan holds play dates for ROBOTIC dogs and their owners

  • The Penguin Café invites robotic dogs and their owners in for play dates 
  • The event, called ‘Aibo World’, is held every Sunday before the café opens
  • Owners dress their robot dogs up in clothes and  celebrate their birthdays 

By Stacy Liberatore For Dailymail.com

Published: | Updated:

A café in Tokyo, Japan has opened its doors to an unusual group of customers – robotic dogs.

The Penguin Café invites hardware canines and their owners in for a play date every Sunday morning before opening to serve drinks and other treats to the public.

The event, called ‘Aibo World’ after Sony’s robot dog, started a few months after the owner of the establishment purchased his own Aibo.

Aibo World was first reported on by BuzzFeed, which walked in on a birthday party for two of the robotic dogs.

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A café in Tokyo, Japan has opened its doors to an unusual group of customers – robotic dogs. The Penguin Café invites hardware canines and their owners in for a play date every Sunday morning before opening to serve drinks and other treats to the public

The Sony made device is fitted with multiple cameras, touch sensors and microphones to make it more lifelike and responsive.

Its 4,000 parts and 22 actuators allow it to wag its tail, shake your hand, move its ears back and forth and kick a ball, as well as move or blink its eyes thanks to two Sony organic LED displays that can even follow its owner around.

A cloud-connected AI engine enables it to detect and analyze sounds and images, which means it can more fully interact with its owner.

Aibo responds to your touch when you scratch or pet it and can even recognize words of praise and smiles.

The event, called 'Aibo World' after Sony's robot dog, started a few months after the owner of the establishment purchased his own Aibo

The event, called ‘Aibo World’ after Sony’s robot dog, started a few months after the owner of the establishment purchased his own Aibo

The event at the Penguin Café attracts dozen of robotic dog owners, who dress their hardware friends up for the occasion – many arrived wearing bows, hats or ties.

BuzzFeed asked attendees at the event why they opted for a robotic dog over the real thing, with one of the common answers being a lack of space and time for a furry friend. 

The event at the Penguin Café attracts dozen of robotic dog owners, who dress their hardware friends up for the occasion. BuzzFeed said many of them arrived wearing bows, hats or ties

The event at the Penguin Café attracts dozen of robotic dog owners, who dress their hardware friends up for the occasion. BuzzFeed said many of them arrived wearing bows, hats or ties

BuzzFeed asked attendees at the event why they opted for a robotic dog over the real thing, with one of the common answers being a lack of space and time for a furry friend

BuzzFeed asked attendees at the event why they opted for a robotic dog over the real thing, with one of the common answers being a lack of space and time for a furry friend

There were also those concerned with the noise a real pet might make and disturb the neighbors.

However, some also shared that they did not want to experience the death of a pet.

‘It would break my heart to have another dog die,’ one owner told BuzzFeed through a translator.

THE NEW AIBO

Aibo is billed as a pet that behaves like a puppy using artificial intelligence (AI) to learn and interact with its owner and surroundings. 

The reborn Aibo features new actuator technology allowing it move more smoothly and naturally like a real dog.

With sensing and AI technologies, Aibo can run toward its owner and detect smiles and words of praise, and can remember what actions please the owner.

Its eyes are made of organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays making it capable of diverse expressions.

The robot comes with an array of sensors, cameras and microphones and boasts internet connectivity, allowing owners to play with the pet remotely via smartphone. 

Sony just released a new version of Aibo last year that gives the dog a personality.

Using a Wifi connection, Aibo uploads all of its day-to-day experiences to the cloud, forming a memory database that enables its unique personality to grow and evolve over time.

This makes it so that ‘no Aibo is the same,’ according to the firm.

‘Aibo keeps on growing and changing, constantly updating its data in the cloud,’ Sony explained.

‘Over time, your approach to nurturing Aibo will gradually shape its personality – it could be a doting partner, a wild, fun-loving companion, or anywhere in between.

‘It’ll even learn new tricks through interactions with other Aibo, experiences with changing seasons and different events,’ the company added.

Aibo recognizes a number of different commands, such as ‘sit,’ ‘stay,’ and ‘come.’ There’s also a ‘mimic’ mode, where owners can teach it new commands using hand movements and placements.