SOUTH KOREA: A robot uses the internet to develop a unique personality

Record ID: 401876

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: A robot uses the internet to develop a unique personality
  • Date: 12th December 2000
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (RECENT) (REUTERS) CU TITI (PINK:FEMALE DIGITAL ROBOT) DRIBBLING BALL AND FOLLOWING HAND CU DIDI (BLUE:MALE DIGITAL ROBOT) AND TWO TITIS RACING AND SINGING AFTER CLAPPING SOUNDS CU/SV DIDI AND TITI DATING AND DIDI CHASING AFTER TITI (2 SHOTS) CU SIGN READING "INTZ.COM" IN ENGLISH AND KOREAN MCU (Korean) LEE JIN-SUNG, PRESIDENT OF INTZ.COM SAYING "The un
  • Embargoed: 27th December 2000 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Quirky,Technology,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAFLB9RVOIUTB2JGVKQBSLHCXP
  • Story Text: A South Korean company has developed a robot which uses the Internet to develop a unique personality.
    Korea's latest robot can dribble a ball, race against its own kind, and even date the opposite sex.
    Intz.com, a venture company in South Korea, has launched a pair of mouse-shaped digital robots, called Didi (male-blue) and Titi (female-pink).
    But what sets it apart from the growing number of robots on the market, is its integration with the Internet.
    The digital toy is packed with high-tech sensors: four in its eyes, six on its bottom, and three in its nose area.
    Using these instruments, robots can differentiate between black and white, detect objects, and respond to sounds.
    As the robots age, they develop personalities - the more the owner plays with the toy, the faster it grows.
    Robot behavior is supervised on the Internet - which periodically downloads software into the robot to modify its behavior.
    "The unique thing (about this toy) is that it integrates with Internet and uses growing algorithms. At the stage of initiation it is one-year-old but will grow up to the age of six when necessities such as food and software are provided by downloading programmes from the Internet", said Lee Jin Sung President of Intz.com.
    Downloaded programs allow the robots to sing, play games and respond to good treatment by their owners.
    Eventually Didi and Titi even begin to ask for liaisons with the "opposite sex". And like so many humans in search of e-mail romance, owners turn to the Internet to find a robot mate.
    Their appetite for love can't be ignored - if the robots' demands are not met they begin to tremble, squeek, and ignore commands.
    Didi and Titi use an infra-red link to communicate with computers linked to the Internet.
    Developers say the product demonstrates Korea is well on the road to developing an advanced robot industry.
    "I'm confident to say that among all the digital robots that have been produced by domestic technology, (Didi and Titi) have better stability and capability. And we are aiming the markets in Japan, China, and USA," said Lee.
    Intz.com, will introduce Didi and Titi to the market on December 15, 2000 at a cost of fifty thousand won (42 U.S.
    dollars). The company plans to produce a million of them by the first half of next year.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register