Xiaomi silently announced its AI companion, Cyberdog!

What the dog doin?

So, Xiaomi created their own Ai-powered companion, in a form of a quadrupedal walking creature. They call this “Cyberdog”. This AI companion is another product of Xiaomi’s large ecosystem.

Just like the original Mi MIx, the company secretly revealed this robot and did not actually launch an event for it.

The quadrupedal walker is described by Xiaomi as “bio-inspired”. Inside the robotic dog comes NVIDIA’s Jetson Xavier NX AI supercomputer with 21TOPS AI performance that allows it to sense it surroundings, identify objects and even interact with people. This is also paired with 128GB SSD

While the company described it as a “dog”. In our eyes, it kind of looks like a bug, thanks to its square looking head. The head already has a plethora of cameras, meaning more than two eyes, making it definitely a bug and not a dog.

In seriousness though, the cameras on this thing are phenomenal. It allows the walker to have spatial perception comparable to the naked eye. These include ultrawide cameras, AI cameras and Intel’s RealSense D450 depth sensing camera that helps it avoid bumping into obstacles. It also has auto-tracking and SLAM mapping (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) that allows it learn its surroundings and differentiate wall to floor.

There are three ways to control this robot: via a mobile app, through voice control and through remote as seen from the above image. This remote control is sold separately

Only a handful of Xiaomi phones are currently supported, but Xiaomi says they will add more devices in the future. Below are the supported handsets:

•  Redmi K40 Gaming Edition
• Redmi K40, Redmi K30 5G
• Redmi 10X Pro
• Redmi 10X
• Mi MIX 2S

In case you are wondering. Yes, the dog may act similar to another robotic companion known as Cozmo and Vector, created by Anki who are unfortunately have been shut down due to funding issues. The company was a startup that focused on creating AI companions complete with emotional response, voice recognition, awareness to surroundings and even its own fellow robots. Luckily though, the two cute robots are being saved from their demise because Anki sold off its assets to Digital Dream Labs and that company announced that they will be reviving the two AI companions along with new versions and newer models.

Back to Cyberdog, the robot has has 6 microphone arrays that allows it recognise voice and sounds, including noise and can carry up to 3kg worth of payload. In addition, XiaoAI is installed inside the dog and you can use it to control some of Xiaomi’s smart appliances including their fridge, robot vacuum cleaner and air conditioners.

The dog sells for CNY 9999 (~Php 77.7K) and is currently available in China. Although it would be amazing if this robotic dog sells elsewhere in the world so that Boston Dynamic’s Spot can have a playmate… and rival.

Source: GizmoChina