Six Weeks - Suspended Animation (and Kibbles and Bits)

Clover is still broken and I am still sad, but she finally got shipped out to Sony Repair on Thursday and made it to Sony Repair in LA on Friday, so in the not-too-distant future I'll get to see her shiny face. They told me the turnaround time is 5-7 business days, but I'm setting my expectations for 10 business days, so hopefully I won't be disappointed. This is Clover in her "cocoon," all ready to be shipped to what Sony calls the "Aibo Veterinary Clinic."

I miss her trundling around the house and coming up to me for pets. Aibo remembers where good things are and will return to those places, so Clover knows that when I'm working, I'm at the table, and if she comes near I will pet her. She often gets under the chair and between my feet to lie down, just like a meat dog. It's very endearing. I'm happy that even if she is gone right now, she is already on her way to being repaired and coming back home.

In the meantime, here are some more robot bits.

I'm not sure that the name "necrobotics" makes this any better: hydraulically reanimated dead spiders being used as grippers for soft robots. Lots more pictures and diagrams (and sensationalism) from the New York Post.

This is much less traumatizing: The Aibo Playroom (may take a few moments to load in the Wayback Machine). 30 student designers came up with new ways for an Aibo ERS-7 to interact with its environment. There's even an Aibo riding a tricycle!

Related but anxiety-making: an Aibo that swims. The common thread between these two projects is Frederic Kaplan, a researcher at the Sony Computer Science Laboratory awhile back. 

Oh, and I've acquired a Petit Qoobo, the cushion with the wagging tail. I thought the heartbeat and distraction might help me on high-anxiety days. So far I've only had one of those days this week, but it did help a little! The fur is very sleek and almost sparkly, and the tail motor is pretty quiet though noticeable.

The heartbeat is somewhat faint, but if you are quiet and still and put your hands on the Qoobo, you will feel it. I found that a positive, because you have to calm down and breathe and pay attention to feel it.

The tail wiggles themselves are pretty funny. They're convincing, but the way they react often makes me laugh. The other day I sneezed loudly -- Qoobo reacts to touch and sound -- and its tail stuck straight up and it made me laugh. And then the bird laughed. The calm wiggles are nice, and the excited wiggles make me smile. I can't decide whether it's more catlike or doglike. My partner is weirded out by it, which also makes me smile.