Sony AIBO
Sony sold a household robot dog that learned behaviour from its owner and was meant to be a companion rather than to do work.
Why it matters
An autonomous robot entered the home as a consumer product for the first time, and its purpose was interaction rather than usefulness.
Sony announced AIBO on 11 May 1999 and sold it only over the Internet: 3,000 units for Japan at 250,000 yen and 2,000 for the United States at $2,500. The Japanese allocation was ordered within twenty minutes of opening on 1 June, the American one within four days. AIBO had a camera, microphones, a touch sensor and behaviour shaped over time by its owner’s praise and scolding. The platform became a standard RoboCup league where every team has identical hardware and competes on software. Sony discontinued it in 2006 and revived the line in 2018.