Cozmo

Every time I come back from a technology workshop, I always crave something new - usually a robot. My latest trip to Portland was no exception. While all the other consultants were going gah-gah over the mBot and Codey Rocky robots, I was down in the shipping department talking with the guys about a new robot called, Cozmo. So as soon as I got off the plane, I went to Best Buy and picked one up.

After my usual frustrations figuring out how to turn it on (it's never as easy as a simple on/off switch), I had to teach Cozmo to recognize my face with his built-in camera. Supposedly he talks to people, but so far I'm having a bit of trouble understanding what he's saying (he sounds a lot like Lincoln; maybe you need to be 3 years old to communicate with this robot). We played a game together (me and Cozmo). That's one of the uses of the blocks. He laughed when I messed up, but got angry when he made a mistake. You're supposed to take care of this robot as if he were a pet, so you have to "feed" him, show him attention with a pat on the head, and play with him. After an hour, I found him exhausting, so I tried to put him to sleep (ie. shut him off). His eyes closed and he started snoring. Good grief.