Robosapien V2

Welcoming our new robot overlords

Robosapien V2
Developer: WowWee Robotics
Price: $249 (shop for this item)

The press release promises that he can bowl. Place the green plastic ball in his articulated fingers and the Robosapien V2 should grab it, wind up, and let the ball fly. He does grab the ball and he does wind up, and the first time you see it, you think your life might be about change. Now that robots can bowl, you think, it's only a matter of time before they can cook my breakfast, too.

But don't sign the Robosapien up for the PBA quite yet (and don't sell your skillet). Motors whirr, joints articulate. The robot twists his torso like a human would, then swings forward and releases the ball toward the three red pins set in a triangle only feet away. The miss, when it comes, is spectacular.

The first time, you make excuses. Well, I can't bowl, either, especially with other people watching, you think, but by the seventh attempt it's pretty clear—this Robosapien could bowl all night and still score no higher than zero.

In bowling, as in everything else, the Robosapien is impressive in a limited way. Detecting a ball, grabbing it from a user, "seeing" the pins, then bowling in their general direction is no easy feat, and the fact that Robosapien V2 manages it at all is a credit to designer Mark Tilden and to WowWee Robotics. Still, after watching the robot in action, Samuel Johnson's famous quote comes inescapably to mind. "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder legs," Johnson said in 1763. "It's not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."

I dream of Rosie

The first Robosapien was launched in 2004 and became one of that year's "it" toys. The diminutive black and white robot became so popular that UK talk show host Jonathan Ross quipped, "Kids, if you wake up on Christmas Day and you don't have a Robosapien under the Christmas tree, your parents don't love you."

WowWee moved more than 2 million Robosapiens worldwide. The company gave Tilden the resources to flesh out an entire product line, which he did by developing the Roboraptor and the Robopet.

But people wanted more Robosapien. The original model, while fun for a time, had few sensors, did not speak, and wasn't very big. Tilden beefed up Robosapien V2 by making it 8 inches taller (it now stands 22 inches high), adding a color camera, infrared vision, and sonic sensors, and giving the new robot a library of sassy phrases. He also gave it the ability to bowl—sort of.

When people are told that "the multi-functional, thinking, feeling robot with attitude has arrived!", they understandably expect that whatever comes out of big cardboard box will resemble Rosie from the Jetsons. It will interact with guests, engage in conversation, and serve drinks at parties. But reality descends onto these fantastic dreams the moment the box is opened.

Users who get the box open in under 30 minutes should receive an engineering certificate for their efforts; I have never before seen a consumer product this difficult to remove from its packaging. Should you decide to order one, know that it will come well-protected.

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