It’s like a speedy mini-forklift, with BB-8’s quirky mood shifts. The Cozmo feels like Pixar’s Wall-E, or any of the robot creatures Wall-E encountered. Every day the Cozmo app has challenges to accomplish, earning points that unlock other tricks and future features. The Cozmo mainly drives around, avoids objects, looks for its cubes (or, people it recognizes via its camera), and sometimes pings people via the app that it wants to play a game. Unlocking some skills in the Cozmo app while it sleeps in its charging dock.Īnother game involves bringing a block up to the Cozmo, teasing it and waiting for it to pounce, then trying to pull the block away before it can tap it. Later on, I realized it was toying with me. One, a pattern-matching reflex contest, pits people against the Cozmo to tap a block if the colored lights match. The Cozmo can find, stack, topple and play with the cubes, and a few games use them. Three cubes that come included are connected to the Cozmo and covered in readable codes. Once it’s paired, the Cozmo runs for about an hour before needing to recharge and snooze on its cradle.
It’s a definite phone “app-cessory” toy, more than a true stand-alone robot. The Cozmo won’t work, however, unless it’s paired to a phone. The phone acts as a processor for the robot, but no internet connection is needed. The Cozmo has some surprising tricks that seem impossible for a thing its size, and that’s because it’s using a Wi-Fi connection to a phone to aid its computer vision (object-recognizing camera) and behavior. The Cozmo’s face is an expressive little LED screen, like a computer monitor. I don’t know if I’d run out and buy one, but it has serious charm. And it’s definitely a toy you can play games with. It’s more of an AI work in progress and a demonstration of personality. Unlike some other STEM-friendly robot kits, the Cozmo isn’t a thing you build or program (yet). And what’s most fascinating to me is I’m falling for its cuteness…and so are my kids. I’d describe it best as a semi-aware robot with a budding personality. According to Anki, the company making the Cozmo, it’s an animated character brought to life in a robot. It’s a robot toy available for the holidays, and also a project of sorts. The Anki Cozmo doesn’t say anything else, just musical beeps and blips. The head lifts, and it pauses, blinks and then seems excited. The blue LED display looks like it’s looking at me. It crawls over on its cute caterpillar-tread wheels.
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