‘Cozmo’ Personal AI Robot Companion, A Sci-Fi Dream Come True

Technology evolves at an exponential rate, and we are now at a time when people would not even need to get out of the house to visit some of the most exotic tourist spots in the world. Another milestone that makes for an effective reminder that the science fiction dreams of the past are fast becoming a reality involves personal robot companions. “Cozmo” is the latest example of this achievement and it’s basically a real-life version of Disney’s “Wall-E.”

“Cozmo” was made by a company called “Anki,” and they intended for the diminutive little mech to be as responsive and relatable as possible. This explains the adorable animation for the blue eyes, the quirky sounds it makes and the compact body that it has. The Verge notes how closely “Cozmo” resembled “Wall-E”; the cute, anthropomorphic robot in the movie of the same name.  

Actually, taking the screen-display eyes of “Cozmo,” it’s almost the offspring of “Wall-E” and love interest “AVA,” which certainly adds to the appeal of the tiny bot. In addition to the lifelike movements and response of the mech, people will be hard-pressed not to fall in love with “Cozmo.”

The creator of the robot, “Anki,” actually started out making small, electronic toy cars. This allowed them to have the basic technology regarding the mobility that went into “Cozmo.” Ankis co-founder and President Hanns Tappeiner explained why they went from toy cars to their current project.

"In the very beginning, when we started working on the first version of [Anki] Drive, we realized that characters and personalities are a big deal," he says. "The problem we had was that cars aren’t the best form factor to bring personalities out."

As Digital Trend notes, “Cozmo” is just the latest in a string of innovations involving AI robots performing certain activities that used to be done either by humans or pets. With the way things are going, the fears of Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking might just be closer than anyone could have predicted.