A Faceless Social Robot

Xiaomi – a Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics – introduced CyberOne in August 2022. It is a humanoid social robot. It has a head, but no face, and for that reason alone it looks creepy. The company writes on its website: „As the newest member of Xiaomi’s Cyber series, joining last year’s quadruped robot Cyberdog, CyberOne is fitted with advanced arms and legs, supports bipedal-motion posture balancing, and reaches a peak torque of up to 300Nm. Also demonstrated was the ability to detect human emotion, advanced vision capabilities, and functionality allowing it to create three-dimensional virtual reconstructions of the real world, alongside a host of other advanced technologies.“ (Xiaomi, August 11, 2022) Via www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJhneBJIfOk you can watch a video with CyberOne. Overall, the demonstration seems unconvincing. The missing face has already been mentioned. The robot makes sounds that are more appropriate for a small toy and entertainment robot. In addition, it moves stiffly and slowly. You can say that the list of uncanny robots has been expanded with CyberOne. Maybe the company can improve the prototype and make it more compelling.

Fig.: A robot with a face

A Competitor for AIBO?

Xiaomi has unveiled CyberDog, a four-legged robot that could be a competitor to Sony’s AIBO. According to the Chinese company, it is calibrated with servo motors that translates into great speed, agility, and a wide range of motion. It is able to conduct complicated actions such as backflips. „To fully model biological organisms, CyberDog is equipped with 11 high-precision sensors which provide instant feedback to guide its movements. This includes touch sensors, cameras, ultrasonic sensors, GPS modules, and more, giving the CyberDog enhanced capability to sense, analyze, and interact with its environment.“ (Mi Blog, 10 August 2021) Unlike AIBO, CyberDog looks rather frightening. This is because it does not have an actual head. In this it is comparable to Spot from Boston Dynamics. Nevertheless, it is intended to function as a pet substitute. „To add to its pet-like nature, users can use voice assistants to command and control CyberDog by setting a wake word, or simply use its accompanying remote and smartphone app. CyberDog can be called on for the most unique tasks, and the ways in which it can be interacted with holds unforetold possibilities.“ (Mi Blog, 10 August 2021) The future will show whether users want to become friends with CyberDog.

Fig.: A dog-like toy