Robots. When we think of robots in anime many series and movies pop into our heads, movies like Ghost in the Shell, or Appleseed, or series like Neon Genesis Evangeleon, Robotech, Vandread or Macross to name a few. In the West, there are robots in movies and series as well, like the Star Wars movies, the Mandalorian Series, Raised by Wolves, Netflix’s Love, Death and Robots, or the Alien movie franchise. And those names are just the tip of the huge iceberg named Science Fiction.

In actual fact, we live in a world now, where robots are real. In 2011 the global market for industrial robots was 8.97 billion dollars, Japan’s cut in that was at 50.2% and in the global market electronic packaging robots was 13.369 billion dollars, and Japan’s finger in the robot industry pie stood at 57.3% in other words robotics are big in Japan. Japan employs over a quarter of a million industrial robot workers and it is estimated that revenue for robotics in Japan to be near 70 billion dollars in Japan by 2025.

Let’s dive into the world of robotics and explore Sony’s journey in making their best robotic beings. In 1999 the ERS-110 became the first-generation model of the ‘AIBO’ 4-legged entertainment robot, capable of a range of performances and able to ‘learn’ as well as express emotions. 2000 introduced the world to SDR-3X a 50cm tall compact robot capable of bipedal movement. It had 24 joints within its body giving it not only the ability to carry out basic movements but also the ability to balance on one foot and to even kick a ball. Also in 2000 the second generation Aibo appeared named ERS-210 with additional sensors and LEDs which enabled it to express a lot more emotions than before. What is more, is that speech-recognition and image-capturing functions were also added to the robot.