索尼上周三表示，將重新推出已經(jīng)銷(xiāo)聲匿跡逾10年的AIBO機(jī)器狗，原因是:經(jīng)過(guò)幾年的重組后，這家電子和娛樂(lè)企業(yè)希望重振自己的創(chuàng)新聲譽(yù)。

發(fā)布公告的前一天，索尼預(yù)測(cè)本財(cái)年利潤(rùn)將創(chuàng)歷史新高，從而證實(shí)自己已經(jīng)復(fù)蘇，并推動(dòng)自身股價(jià)攀升至九年來(lái)的最高點(diǎn)。索尼同時(shí)確認(rèn)了此前猜測(cè)這個(gè)“寵物項(xiàng)目”將復(fù)活的報(bào)道。

AIBO的宣傳定位是寵物，行為像真正的狗，借助人工智能來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)并和自己的主人以及環(huán)境互動(dòng)。升級(jí)后的AIBO采用了新的傳感和運(yùn)動(dòng)技術(shù)，人工智能也比以前先進(jìn)得多，而且將在云計(jì)算支持下發(fā)展自己的個(gè)性。

這款產(chǎn)品定于明年1月在日本上市，售價(jià)19.8萬(wàn)日元（約11484元人民幣）。

1999年，索尼推出AIBO寵物狗，借此率先進(jìn)入娛樂(lè)機(jī)器人領(lǐng)域。該產(chǎn)品在日本售出了大約15萬(wàn)只。七年后，索尼的核心消費(fèi)電子業(yè)務(wù)因與亞洲新興對(duì)手的價(jià)格戰(zhàn)而陷入困境，AIBO機(jī)器狗隨之停產(chǎn)。

索尼首席執(zhí)行官平井一夫在新聞通氣會(huì)上表示：“2006年終止這個(gè)項(xiàng)目是個(gè)艱難的決定，但我們一直在進(jìn)行人工智能和機(jī)器人開(kāi)發(fā)?！?

“一年半以前，我讓索尼的工程師們開(kāi)發(fā)（新的）AIBO機(jī)器狗，因?yàn)槲覉?jiān)信能和人建立親密關(guān)系的機(jī)器人有助于實(shí)現(xiàn)索尼（去啟迪）的愿景?！?

重生的AIBO機(jī)器狗采用了新的驅(qū)動(dòng)技術(shù)，行為更加流暢和自然，就像真正的狗一樣。傳感和人工智能技術(shù)讓它能夠跑向自己的主人，識(shí)別氣味和贊揚(yáng)的話語(yǔ)，并記住那些可以取悅主人的行為。用OLED（有機(jī)發(fā)光二極管）制作的眼睛讓它能做出多種表情。

索尼的目標(biāo)是讓新款A(yù)IBO機(jī)器狗的銷(xiāo)量至少達(dá)到老款的水平，但未說(shuō)明將在多長(zhǎng)時(shí)間內(nèi)實(shí)現(xiàn)。該公司還表示，正考慮在海外銷(xiāo)售這款產(chǎn)品。

索尼認(rèn)為人工智能是未來(lái)增長(zhǎng)的基石，并希望跟上主要科技公司的腳步，比如Facebook、蘋(píng)果公司和谷歌。

去年索尼向美國(guó)人工智能初創(chuàng)企業(yè)Cogitai投入了一筆資金，但未披露具體金額，該初創(chuàng)公司開(kāi)發(fā)的技術(shù)主要是：允許機(jī)器通過(guò)和真實(shí)世界的互動(dòng)來(lái)不斷地進(jìn)行自主學(xué)習(xí)。索尼還成立了一只風(fēng)投基金，目的是和人工智能與機(jī)器人領(lǐng)域的研究人員以及初創(chuàng)公司建立合作關(guān)系。

今年早些時(shí)候，索尼國(guó)際教育推出了首款產(chǎn)品Koov，這個(gè)塑料積木機(jī)器人旨在通過(guò)搭建和編程教孩子們編寫(xiě)代碼。 （財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：Charlie

審校：夏林

Japan’s Sony Corp said on Wednesday it has brought back AIBO more than a decade since it last made the robotic dog, as the electronics and entertainment firm seeks to rebuild its reputation for innovation after years of restructuring.

The announcement comes a day after Sony confirmed its renaissance by forecasting its highest-ever profit this financial year, sending its shares surging to a nine-year high. And it confirms previous reportsspeculating that Sony would revive the “pet project.”

AIBO is billed as a pet that behaves like a real dog using artificial intelligence (AI) to learn and interact with its owner and surroundings. The upgrade sees AIBO equipped with new sensing and movement technologies as well as far more advanced AI backed by cloud computing to develop the dog’s personality.

Sales begin in Japan in January for 198,000 yen ($1,739).

Sony pioneered entertainment robots with AIBO in 1999. It sold about 150,000 dogs in Japan before ceasing production seven years later when its core consumer electronics business struggled in price wars with emerging Asian rivals.

“It was a difficult decision to stop the project in 2006, but we continued development in AI and robotics,” Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai said at a news briefing.

“I asked our engineers a year and a half ago to develop (new) AIBO because I strongly believe robots capable of building loving relationships with people help realise Sony‘s mission (to inspire).”

The reborn AIBO features new actuator technology allowing it move more smoothly and naturally like a real dog. With sensing and AI technologies, AIBO can run toward its owner and detect smiles and words of praise, and can remember what actions please the owner. Its eyes are made of organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays making it capable of diverse expressions.

Sony said it aims to sell at least as many new AIBO as the original, without giving a time frame. It also said it is considering overseas sales.

The firm sees AI as a future pillar of growth, hoping to catch up with major technology companies such as Facebook Inc , Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google.

It invested an undisclosed sum last year in Cogitai, a U.S. AI start-up focusing on technology that allows machines to learn continually and autonomously from interaction in the real world. It also established a venture capital fund to build partnerships with researchers and start-up companies in AI and robotics.

Earlier this year, Sony Education launched its first product, Koov, which aims to teach children coding through building and programming robots using plastic blocks.