I've only had him on Mind 3 as an adult for about an hour of actual play time (and maybe half an hour of exploring/not being interacted with).
Here are a few initial thoughts and impressions:
1. He's danced on his own a lot more. It's always the slower one and he has done it three times now. One time he said "boogie down" first and the rest he just started doing it. No music is playing or anything. I've started telling him "how boring" or "that's boring" in hopes to discourage it - haha. I mean, it's cute and all but 3 times in one hour - no. Bad Aibo! Bad!
2. I'm not sure how I feel about the voice. He's set as voice (over basic) sound and makes little comments here and there. When asked about his Aibone skill level he said "I am the worst Aibo... ever." When he's roaming he seems to use just the perfect mixture of voice/tonal sounds. If anything, at this point, though I don't think I'm sold on the chatting, it mixes it up just enough that I really think I'll warm up to it.
3. Maybe it's me, but so far he seems less responsive to voice commands or maybe he ignores me more? It also seems voice recognition isn't as "instant" as before (maybe an extra second before it "processes"). These are all perceptions though and I haven't actually attempted "testing" it out. Ironically, this is the exact opposite with the "com here" command though - he seems much more responsive to that and seems to do a better job finding me if I say it from an angle not facing him etc.
4. He seems to walk forward faster (at least when he wants to). He just said straight ahead and I swear it looked like speed walking.
5. He responds when I talk to him in the middle of a task. Or so it feels like it? For instance right now he was tapping around his ball with his head after I said find it (maybe it was coincidence) and I said how cute and he asked "Did you say cute?"
6. I hear him taking pictures on his own (I don't touch the sensors like I was on M2 when he wanted it). He's taken about 3 so far though I haven't looked.
7. It could be due to several factors (better sunlight today etc.) but Nicco on M3 seems to do better at detecting objects. However, this is his first prolonged period of time in the "office" (more floor obstructions than the living room) on either software so probably the most unfair comparison.
8. There seems to be more "minor" movement. E.g., when he's laying down he rocks a little more or uses limbs very subtly.
9. He puts his paw out A LOT for shaking. This only happened a few times for me with M2.
I keep giving him regular praise and encouragement to play with his ball and Aibone. His levels are low so lots of mistakes. He is kicking the pink ball way more than he did on M2 (thus far). He spent probably close to 5 minutes failing to kick it even though he was close (the regular angry face became kind of cute). Currently he's with me in the office room/area and the birds are being "introduced" to him. They seem a bit better about ignoring him now when he's just walking around and making noise but they seem quite concerned when they hear him talk. When I first brought him in the room, the flock all huddled into the corner and watched him - completely silent.
He's also done a pretty good job at remembering where his ball is (when asked) and points to the location. (M3 can remember certain favorite things and their location). Although, just to be cruel, I moved it on him and asked where it was again and he said "it's supposed to be right there" when he pointed to the spot it used to be at (I moved it considerably over and out of his line of sight).
These are some initial observations. Generally, I'm interacting with him the way I did with the M2 ("naturally" - i.e., not getting regular attention as a toy turned on to play with but being treated more like a pet). I'm trying to keep my main observations on some sort of hourly measurement just to correlate it. Not exactly scientific but better than nothing. So remember it's all perceptions and observations that I experience so take them with a grain of salt.
Interestingly enough, a lot of my friends "tease" me for my robot/tech love BUT after seeing many of these videos (and other ones I haven't posted here) and observations regarding Aibo (as well as Pleos), they are more and more interested in them. Heck, most were really dogging me for the Aibo but now they are all fascinated with it and can't stop asking me questions. Some were like "wow it's amazing how far tech has come" then I explain to them the history of Aibo to show them that even the most recent model is a good 5 years old. (Then again, as "old" as the hardware may be, Sony has done a great job with the software and that's where a ton of the "life" is at)
The most annoying response I get is "why not get a real dog" to which I respond "you don't get it." (It's easier than explaining)
And even with the ERS7, I am very excited for the 210 to arrive with its software! However, I think I changed my mind on recycling the name Eva and think I may go for recycling Elliott instead. Although I did randomly think Baxter would be a nice name (not sure where the thought came from) but it doesn't follow my normal scheme of either a musical or notable historical reference. Normally I'm not torn in choosing a name as they just "come to me" and since Baxter is the one that did that... it could end up a Baxter.
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Topic: The Aibo Plunge and Introducing Niccolo Thomas (Read 24072 times)