Tomy has announced an interactive robot dog, called i-SODOG, that works with a smartphone.

This is a follow-up to the i-SOBOT, a bipedal robot released in 2007. i-SODOG is intended for customers of all ages.

“Of course, this robot moves autonomously. It has sensors in its back and head, and two microphones, and it can recognize about 50 spoken words. i-SODOG can also dance, and do regular dog actions, like shaking hands and sitting on command.”

i-SODOG comes with a special-purpose controller, but it can also be controlled via an app on your smartphone. As well as controlling its movement, such as walking and leaning, when you go out you can also play with the i-SODOG app, and when you get back home you can convert game points to food, and give it to the robot i-SODOG. It can also dance in time to downloaded music.

i-SODOG uses 15 ultra-compact servomotor units, which were developed by Tomy. This makes the robot’s size small and keeps its price down. The i-SODOG also has a biometric sensor in its nose, allowing the robots to communicate with each other.

“For the first time, we’ve given this robot what people would call a sixth sense, the ability to communicate through static electricity, which dogs and cats are said to be able to do, as well as sharks. So for example, if one of these robots communicates to another that it’s hungry, the other robot can say, “OK, let’s eat together.” As soon as a person touches the two robots, they can communicate and exchange information.”

“We’ve already finished developing i-SODOG, so we hope to release it early next year. We’re aiming for its price to be 31,500 yen (~US$400), including tax.”

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