Zeno: the next must-have personal robot?

[toddlevy]

http://zenosblog.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/zeno.jpg


Just came across this article about the new Zeno. It's a 17-inch-tall, 4.5-pound humanoid robot boy.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2178986,00.asp

Hanson Robotics' latest creation is a 17-inch, 4.5-pound robot boy that can walk, talk, express emotions, and make eye contact.

The prototype, which will have a formal unveiling at Wired Nextfest in California next week, is described as an intelligent "conversational robot" and will ultimately be part of Hanson's "Robokind" line of personal, interactive bots. Zeno is still at least two years from commercial availability, but even at this early stage, the child-like robot apparently has some impressive features.


Here's the official site... http://www.zenosworld.com/ and blog... http://zenosblog.wordpress.com/

One interesting aspect is that it connects to your PC via 802.11g WiFi.

It also uses Massive Software... http://www.massivesoftware.com/ ... to control the animations.

There are even a few Pleo mentions in the article...

Hanson has high hopes and big ambitions for Zeno. "We're combining the best artificial intelligence with this theater for fiction so that the way that it's crafted the artistry makes the robot seem like it's more intelligent. It turns robotics into an art medium." However, if the somewhat difficult journey that the closely-watched personal robot, Ugobe Pleo is taking to the marketplace is any indication, two years to deliver such a potentially sophisticated and affordable robot could be wildly optimistic. Hanson, though, disagrees and told me that two years is achievable.

When asked if Zeno could be designed to ride the similarly-sized Pleo robot dinosaur, Hanson was enthusiastic: "That's a great idea! I think they could be great friends."

[toddlevy]

Here's a link to a video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izjxRPVX4z8

[hardyfoster]

neat how they did the facial muscles

i'll be glad when someone comes up with speech that doesn't sound like a computer.

if anyone remembers SAM from Atari computer days, the voice they have now sounds like that only clearer.

[hardyfoster]

ugobe, if possible, could you please put out some more pleo vids? perhaps of just normal interaction outside of the initial / baby stage?
thanks.

[amjoie]

That thing gives me the creeps. It looks too much like Chucky.

The computer humanoid life form on the screen isn't too bad, so I know what they were going for, but I think they missed. In my opinion, the eyebrows and hair are just plain ugly. And the eyes are totally too round. The body is awful. He doesn't look cute and innocent; he looks sinister. Like a toy star in a B rated horror show. Shudder.

I would advise "back to the drawing board."

[Pleofan89]

Argh...I really liked this until Amjoie mentioned Chuckie.....

and HAHA....Zeno riding Pleo... someone needs to Photoshop that...

:D But this is so great! I bought pleo mainly for my little sister but I see Zeno as a potential toy for me!..:p I've been hoping for a small personal robot to let walk around my study desk and talk to me when I'm stressing over my college exams... but 17 inches is too tall.... I was hoping it to be around 7-8 inches tall...

I just hope that's just the prototype(which it probably is). I like the head and face but the hair and eyebrows could be better.... they should give it baggy pants..and a slimmer shoulder width...

Also, they should make thelower part of the body like Chroino and preferably walk like him too... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTG_aaRsrJ4

so real...and cute!! thankyou for posting this..

$300 is not that bad for something like that...



edit: I take it back... The hair is beautiful... just needed to look at it from another angle...

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Technology/ap_robot_boy_070912_ms.jpg

still, the shoulders are too wide...no eyebrows look better...other than that, I'm gonna buy it..

[junkroxy]

i don't like his face a lot... i luv pleo more! ehh!

[Pleofan89]

Look what I made:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n212/acusi1989/motivator3239591-2.jpg

Just for laughs.... I'll definitely invest in it...:D

[Brokenh3art]

The Robot consumer community will ave a tough choice choosing between pleo
http://www.science.edu/TechoftheYear/Nominees/Pleo.jpg
and

zeno
http://www.zenosworld.com/
http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070912/070912_robot_hmed_3p.hmedium.jpg
Zeno is being designed by hanson robotics and will be able to carry out full conversations and show over 60 emotions and the emotions variants, and zeno will be usb compatible so you can plug him in and he will browse the internet and learn while you sleep


these 2 robotic life forms will be awesome to see when theyre both for sale



But as for me im gonna get both.

p.s hanson robotics is famous for its lifelike and fluent in conversation robots such as this, einstein, einstein has the capability to talk on over 100 different subjects
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/66/Einstein-Hubo.jpg/300px-Einstein-Hubo.jpg

[Brokenh3art]

blegh i just made a thread about zeno in the pleo cafe i didnt even see this one already

[cmadmacs]

maybe zeno and pleo can be friends.

[PleoWorldHostCami]

Please note that this thread, "Pleo Competition" has been merged with the existing thread "Zeno: the next must have personal robot?" found in the Robotics 101 forum.

The redirect link in Pleo Cafe will last for approximately one day at which time you will need to access the combined thread directly in the Robotics 101 forum.

[pleoguy101]

i hope this is the zeno prototype, because he looks a little creepy, and his sleeves look like black socks:D i mean, in his video his eyes are pretty lifelike and he has a cheep price, but in the beggining, pleo was $200, so zeno will probably go up to $350 or more, around pleos price now, but zenos not somthing I'm giving much thought about buying..

[geert]

i love him 100% and buy him as soon he comes out off his factory !!!
i hope that hanson robotics don't listen to the "creepy" story's and stuff and put him on the market in 2 a 3 years !!!
:D

[ryane]

i agree completly with geert. i can't wait for zeno! i don't really believe he will be this cheap. i hope they don't compromise too much of the 'lil guy. i would rather pay a lot more and get the robot they are building now, not some striped down toy imitation...

[pleoman]

Zeno looks scary to me! I think I would rather have pleo any day!

[ryane]

zeno is awesome.

[Pleofan89]

Come'on now. He's not that scary...? lol.

I've played with my little sister's Amazing Amanda doll (has the facial expression feature too) and it was pretty fun. Haha. I was pretty creeped out by it at first. Now its just cute....

I can't wait to hear Zeno's true voice. I hope its not what we hear now... >.<

[ryane]

Come'on now. He's not that scary...? lol.

I've played with my little sister's Amazing Amanda doll (has the facial expression feature too) and it was pretty fun. Haha. I was pretty creeped out by it at first. Now its just cute....

I can't wait to hear Zeno's true voice. I hope its not what we hear now... >.<

yeah it would be interesting to hear his voice once they give him one.

[geert]

new test on zeno
so cute
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=yPqKlOQ6kkY
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=EI1XCclwuKY
....just his voice is not good for him i think

[ryane]

that second video was really cool. i hadn't seen it before. thanks for posting it!

[amjoie]

new test on zeno
so cute
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=yPqKlOQ6kkY
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=EI1XCclwuKY
....just his voice is not good for him i think

Did anyone else notice the head mask for a girl Zeno, with blond hair, tied up on both sides (we call them Puppy Tails, in the USA), in the background of the first video?

I agree the voice sounds too deep for his little body.

I wonder if they are using one of the programs that the online "talk with me" AI sites use. I think they are open source, aren't they? But if so, I don't know how you could easily train him, if he responded inappropriately. I wouldn't want to hear too many of those "let me think about that" responses, for instance. It could get really annoying.

[MyCool]

Thanks, Does Pleo have the hardware to program Pleo to talk? (Yes, I know DInos don't talk and it wasn't Ugobe's original intention.) Thanks!

[amjoie]

Thanks, Does Pleo have the hardware to program Pleo to talk? (Yes, I know DInos don't talk and it wasn't Ugobe's original intention.) Thanks!

Ugobe has said the hardware they have in Pleo could support speech -- however, they personally have no plans for that.

As far as someone else doing it, no one knows how deep a level will be available to lay-programmers, yet. Give it a couple weeks, once we get the specs, and we can answer that more easily.

[pleoguy101]

zenos voice sounds like a girl, it also sorta sounds like a car GPS system:D but I'm sure zeno will be great once compleated:)

[ryane]

i've been thinking that adding speech to pleo might be cool. maybe use the voice of little foot from the land before time. it was just a thought. i haven't even looked for any sound files of it yet.

[BauerMECH]

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=yPqKlOQ6kkY
That isn't Takahashi-san in the background is it? Ya know, Robot Garage... developed Chroino and MANOI... part of Team Osaka...
Is Zeno his baby?

[Robomom]

So what's up with Zeno anyway? I looked on the website for it and it doesn't really have anything current on it. Has anyone heard when they think it might be released? I am not sure whether he will be cute or creepy yet, but I can't wait for more robots with AI programming. Pleo is so much better than anything else I have, but he makes me want MORE MORE MORE!!!!

[ryane]

i wondered what happened too. i really hope hanson is still developing zeno. i want one!! i just ordered a past issue of servo magazine that features zeno as the cover story. i've been checking their web site pretty often but nothing since september!?:confused: i'm crossing my fingers.

[hobbesi]

I find that thing creepy. I’m impressed with the video of it correcting itself (Pleo can’t do that at all, and Aibo had to go through some pretty unnatural looking contortions to do it,)

But that creepy plasticy looking manga boy face does not match his robot looking body. I’de prefer a robot that looks like a robot. As opposed to a Astro Boys loser brother. :p

I think Ugobe got the formula right. A dinosaur is such an obvious choice for a robot pet. Since it fills a void a real animal cannot (my principle motivation for buying Pleo was my childhood dream of a pet dinosaur) but it also avoids direct comparisons to real animals or people (Pleo looks realistic because nobody has seen how a real dinosaur moved)

[Caaahl]

I check the hanson robotics pages on a daily basis, but nothing new since september. :rolleyes:

In a video a while ago hanson said they plan to "release" zeno in 2010.

[Darkwolf]

I check the hanson robotics pages on a daily basis, but nothing new since september. :rolleyes:
In a video a while ago hanson said they plan to "release" zeno in 2010.
Indeedy. Whatever they are into, they stuff it in the media perhaps way too soon.
Zeno is far from finished and ready to be launched into the public.
And like UGOBE, this will be their true first consumer robot product!

[Robomom]

Good point. They dangle the idea of it in front of us and then make us wait years to get one. I hope they get it out sooner than 2010. But just like with Pleo, we have no control over that. And it's probably better they don't rush it into production anyway. I sure would like to see Ugobe do another dinosaur though. I still want a baby triceratops!

[Roundy210]

My god, he looks like a dork

[Robomom]

He does look kind of dopey, but hey, that never stopped anyone. I think maybe they were trying for cute and not scary, but I think he's going to be kind of creepy anyway.

[Caaahl]

last thing i found about zeno was this:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HSrlNIPpHPw&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HSrlNIPpHPw&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Its a shame that the video stops before the interview is finished.

[Robomom]

Interesting, but I would have liked to see what the robot can do. The guy was talking the whole time and Zeno was just looking around. Maybe the actual demo part came later. Too bad. But thanks for the update Caaahl.

[pleoguy101]

he's pretty cute, I guess:) I guess he would be fun to have around:)

[fancyfont]

With the eye movement Zeno doesn't look creepy anymore. It might turn out to be a cute robot. If he can bring in the newspaper I may add him to my wish list!:D

[Robomom]

I will definately be watching for his release cause I am intrigued by robots in general, but he's not a must have, like Pleo was. I would still like to see Ugobe do another dinosaur, or even a dragon.

[pleoguy101]

I will definately be watching for his release cause I am intrigued by robots in general, but he's not a must have, like Pleo was. I would still like to see Ugobe do another dinosaur, or even a dragon.

yes, I would love UGOBE to make a dragon:)

[ryane]

he's definatly a must have! i wish they would post some new info on zeno's blog.

[junkroxy]

is this a prototype? tha hands design is too bad, and the body too:rolleyes: zeno's expressions are really cute!

[ryane]

yeah it's just a prototype. it would be cool if they could create little hands for zeno, also covered in frubber, so he could grasp things. who knows what they could really put into a $300 production model though. it seems like they'd have to use cheap toy motors the way ugobe did and slap an 8 bit chip on each for smart control. zeno would still have to use much fewer servos/motors then in the prototype. i'd rather see hanson built what he intended to. i would pay the money that it's worth.

[Robomom]

Yeah it would be nice to see them do it right, rather than just make an expensive toy.

[Falseprophet666]

It seems as though a lot of the criticism for "Zeno" stems from his weird factor. The problem that I have with Zeno is not that he's creepy, but the way he's being presented. Zeno is supposedly a hero from the year 2029 or so, and appears to be part of a whole universe of--well, stuff. It seems very childish and stupid. Theres a future part of their website called "Zeno's world." Why build a whole world around a sophisticated robot like that? Pleo was presented as a robotic "Lifeform," a platform that was both accurate and clever. Perhaps Zeno is being marketed to a younger group, I don't know.

[mweed]

Well, then again, I've built a little world around pleo. O.K., a specific pleo, Bob. :p

[Falseprophet666]

Yeah, but Bob has become a mascot of sorts. It's not like Ugobe wrote ont he side of the box, "Pleo was rescued from the distant past by scientists from the near future," or something silly like that. I would be more interested in what makes him tick. I could see people getting him and Zeno babbling about some evil warlord in the crab nebula or something.

[pleoWhisperer]

Yeah, but Bob has become a mascot of sorts. It's not like Ugobe wrote ont he side of the box, "Pleo was rescued from the distant past by scientists from the near future," or something silly like that. I would be more interested in what makes him tick. I could see people getting him and Zeno babbling about some evil warlord in the crab nebula or something.

Hmmm . . . evil warlord from the crab nebula . . . this could be backstory for Dr. Mel . . .

[SpiritFurEva]

freaky looking! IM NOT BUYING THAT! i want the pleo i mean really who wants a human like robot.......................that has a creepy face to me................AHH!! lol

[desertguy]

Id rather have Gadget any day

[Allosaurus]

No clue why, but it reminds me of Jimmy Neutron XD

[ryane]

here is a link to a video i found of hanson talking about zeno

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/emergingtech/0,1000000183,39363088,00.htm

personally, i am really looking forward to getting zeno.

[Allosaurus]

I hate humanoid robots, and they're definitely gonna need to change that terrible voice!
(Also, the eyes look kinda ugly teh way they're placed in their sockets.)

[ryane]

I hate humanoid robots, and they're definitely gonna need to change that terrible voice!
(Also, the eyes look kinda ugly teh way they're placed in their sockets.)

remember that the voice heard in the old videos from last year was from the prototype. i like humanoid robots.:D

[hobbesi]

The interesting thing about Zeno is that approach is different then most other “companion robots” .
Most of the models or companion robots from Aibo, to Pleo to countless Japanese bots that haven’t made it here (Nocoro as an example) took an approach of physically oriented interaction. Zeno seems to be focusing on vocal interaction. You talk to Zeno and he talks back. Gaining information through his connection to the internet. That’s cool because its really something the others haven’t tried. If it works it could be like nothing else on the market :cool:

(Sony was headed in that direction with Qrio, But he’s dead) :(

I hope when Ugobe announces another product. Its different from what we’ve seen.. And not jjust another pet.(or if they do another pet, make it Pleo 2)

I’d buy a Zeno.. particularly at 300$. But I still hate the creepy Manga boy face.

[Allosaurus]

Well, sorry to burst everyone's bubble, but...
I kinda hate it. Pleo and BigDog rule the house.
No way to change my opinion.

[wgb]

I think he is cool. I will probably buy one. He sounds personable.

[pleoWhisperer]

Not me. looks way to anime for my tastes.

[pleoWhisperer]

Here a new article from Wired on how Zeno will save us from ourselves . . .

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/10/toy-robot-inten.html

[Allosaurus]

Still, not liking it. Cool, but hate it.

[Allosaurus]

rather have Olympia, no matter what.

Or, again, BigDog rules!

[Lavander]

Sorry, but humanoid robots creep me out D8
And I dunno why...

Besides, I think Kazooie is ten times cuter <3

[ryane]

thanks for the link to that. anyone notice that http://hansonrobotics.com/ been updated. it's much cleaner looking and more organized. also they write that the full size 18" tall zeno should be available for 1500 in 2010! the 6" version will be 300 around the same time. i don't know about you guys but i'll have to come up with the 1500 for the real deal. i just think zeno will be amazing.

[GSDMum]

Creepy - zoids !
I imagine the customer base for such things as Pleo and Zeno et al is probably roughly divided into those who do like humanoid robots and those who don't. I'd much prefer an animal shaped robot myself.

[Allosaurus]

Sorry, but humanoid robots creep me out D8
And I dunno why...

Besides, I think Kazooie is ten times cuter <3

EXACTLY!

Humanoid bots suck (To me, anyways. They're way too creeeeeepy)

[ryane]

EXACTLY!

Humanoid bots suck (To me, anyways. They're way too creeeeeepy)

remember though, this thread is for those who are interested in the robot zeno.;-) please don't come on here and write negative things that have nothing to do with the subject matter.

[Allosaurus]

remember though, this thread is for those who are interested in the robot zeno.;-) please don't come on here and write negative things that have nothing to do with the subject matter.

Okay, sorry. ~_~'


Also, I know he has servos. What makes a servo a servo?