The Verge podcast looks back at the history of Sony's Aibo robot dog
The first episode of the sixth season of The Verge's podcast Version History tells the story of Sony's robot dog Aibo. The season is devoted to pets and pet-related gadgets.
The technology publication The Verge has launched the sixth season of its podcast Version History, and the opening episode is devoted to the Aibo, a robot dog created by the Japanese electronics company Sony. The season's theme is pets: gadgets that are pets themselves, gadgets for pet owners, and one gadget called Pet.
In the episode, The Verge editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host David Pierce is joined by colleagues Victoria Song and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy. Together they look back at the origins of the Aibo and discuss its success and longevity.
Sony's ambitions in the 1990s
According to the episode description, Sony was convinced in the 1990s that the world stood on the brink of a robot takeover. The company expected people to soon live among many humanoid robots: some would be coworkers, others friends, and at least one would be a pet. A pet was exactly what Sony had in mind when it built the Aibo, which was meant to be part of the family.
What the episode covers
The discussion tries to work out why the Aibo had such an effect on its owners, what Sony got right and wrong about robots, and whether the idea of a robot pet will ever become a global phenomenon.
The season runs for six weeks. Verge subscribers can listen to its podcasts without ads by visiting their account settings.
