He fits in the palm of your hand and has big square eyes and an even bigger personality.
Introducing Cozmo, the world’s first mini companion robot.
Cozmo is the result of more than six years of research and development by a US team of the best and brightest roboticists, film animators, game developers and designers.
This little guy is not your average bot. He has a brain that processes more data per second than all the Mars rovers combined.
With Cozmo, you have a friend for life.
He has won the hearts of thousands of families across the US and Europe and Cozmo will soon be available in Australia.
Anki, the creators of some of the coolest and most advanced consumer tech products in the world, will officially launch Cozmo in Australia next month along with their flagship product: ANKI OVERDRIVE – small futuristic robotic supercars competing on custom made tracks at breath taking speeds.
These amazing new products are the brainchild of three Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute graduates – Boris Sofman, Mark Palatucci and Hanns Tappeiner.
Innovative plan
Nearly 10 years ago over a few drinks at a Palo Alto restaurant in California they hatched a plan to make robots more accessible to consumers.
Their main goal was to bring robots from outside science labs into the family living room.
In 2010, they developed a successful prototype for the Overdrive supercars – and Anki, a cutting edge robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) company, was born.
The company, based in San Francisco, has attracted the attention of a team of high profile investors including J.P. Morgan, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, and Two Sigma.
After four rounds of investment, Anki has raised more than US$200 million in funding. The company now employs 180 people worldwide with offices in the UK, Germany and France.
The Anki team includes Hollywood designer Harald Belker, designer of the Batmobile as well as vehicles from Tron: Legacy and Minority Report.
Putting character and personality in products
Cozmo was designed to resemble a robot like you’ve seen in the movies.
“Anki has found a way to put character and personality into its products,” says Mark Bradley, the head of global sales and international expansion for the company.
Mark was recently in Sydney with Anki Executive Producer Charlie Hite for a pre-launch media preview of Anki’s two key products.
The toy market has been “pretty static” for the past 40 years, says Mark.
But that’s all about to change.
“We’re now starting to see the emergence of ‘connected’ toys. “Most toys will be connected to the Internet in the next 10 years,” he predicts.
“We are now developing toys with amazing intelligence – and with personality.”
With Cozmo there’s never a dull moment. He is always ready to play and interact.
The more he and his human friend get to know each other, the more skilled he’ll become, and the more content Cozmo owners can unlock.
You immediately feel a connection
The free Cozmo app, which is compatible with iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire devices, comes packed with gameplay content and constantly introduces new ways to play.
“You start to immediately feel a connection to Cozmo,” says Mark.
“It is not a mechanical toy that just moves forward and backwards.”
Made from 360 different parts, Cozmo will recognise your face and then ask you your name. He could meet you again in five or 10 years and still know who you are.
With special facial recognition technology built in, Cozmo knows whether you are a human or a pet. He identifies cats and dogs.
“How you interact with him will help to evolve his character,” says Mark. “If you shake him or tease him he will be sad – if you play with him he’s happy.
“When you look into his eyes he will tell you how he is feeling.
“It’s hard not to love him.”
Improving STEM skills
At the media preview we watched as Cozmo took centre stage, playing peek-a-boo and other social games. We saw him stack cubes on command and negotiate his way around a big desk – showing caution when approaching the edge.
This is one smart robot.
Most importantly, Cozmo has huge potential to help kids develop STEM learning skills.
An easy to use Code Lab system allows users to program the robot themselves through the Cozmo app.
“As well as being a fun toy, Cozmo is an entertaining way for kids to learn coding,” says Mark. “They can learn while they play.”
Anki is confident education institutions across the globe will soon incorporate the new technology into their curriculums.
And this technology is not just restricted to entertainment and education.
Eventually it may be applied to develop companion robots for the elderly or for use in industry such as agriculture – or even security, utilising its facial recognition skills.
Instant hit with all age groups
Launched in the US last year, Cozmo was an instant hit with children – and their parents – throughout the country.
“He was the second best-selling premium priced toy in the US,” says Mark. We ran out of stock in mid-November – otherwise it would definitely have been number one.”
And Cozmo became the most searched item on e-bay in December last year, with parents desperate to have the tiny pet robot sitting under their Christmas tree.
Anki’s other signature product, OVERDRIVE has also taken the US by storm.
Players take control of the supercars of the future via handheld mobile devices.
They battle and race against friends, family, or AI-controlled commanders in a variety of game modes, or, go head-to-head with elite commanders in the Campaign mode. The game introduces an innovative magnetic modular track system that allows gamers to custom build epic battlefields within seconds.
Fast & Furious franchise
Players can go under the hood and customise their Supercars. They can also lift their skills by customising their Supercar’s speed, weapons, and defences through in-game upgrades.
Anki OVERDRIVE in the US, has partnered with the hugely popular movie franchise Fast & Furious.
The Anki OVERDRIVE: Fast & Furious Edition gives players the chance to relive epic movie moments as they battle the Toretto crew, or race against friends and family members.
These products are also available in the UK (Cozmo was the number one selling tech toy last year) and in Germany.
And Anki has ambitious plans to launch Cozmo and Anki Overdrive in Japan in mid-September and possibly China in the new year.
In Australia, the official launch is planned for September 29 – with the products available in selected retail outlets.
JB Hi-Fi and Australian Geographic are now taking pre-orders for Cozmo. And JB Hi-Fi will offer customers a special Collector’s Edition in Liquid Metal finish.
Anki OVERDRIVE will be available in October. The Fast & Furious edition is available pre-order only at JB Hi-Fi.
You can expect to pay $319.99 for Cozmo and a standard Anki OVERDRIVE kit will sell for $269.99 The Fast & Furious edition has a RRP of $299.99. Both products come with free regular software upgrades.
