We’ve all seen WALL-E, the adorable Pixar robot that zooms around the now desolate planet Earth cleaning up the mess we left behind some 700 years earlier. All while running OS X…

Well, we hopefully are a long way off from that ever becoming a reality, but that doesn’t mean we would not welcome a lovable little robot into our daily lives, right?

Meet Cozmo!

Cozmo is a palm-sized robot from a company called Anki, makers of Overdrive, an AI-powered car racing game that is like a Hot Wheels track on steroids.

Cozmo too is AI driven and is quickly kicked into gear via the Cozmo smartphone app available for both iOS and Android. He isn’t just “remote controlled.” Once awake he will shake off his sleep and roll out of his charging dock. Equipped with a camera, as well as his CRT style screen for a face, he will look around, inspect all of the faces in the room, and get moving. 

If Cozmo nears the edge of the table he is on, he will let out a robotic scream of sorts and back away from the edge in fear. Something akin to a human nearly falling off a ledge or stumbling down a hill.

Cozmo also loves to play games. He comes with blocks that he can stack up, and knock down, seemingly out of spite, or play a game where you must tap the block before him when they light up the same colour.

Again, he doesn’t simply react to you or your commands; he does it with enthusiasm and emotion. When losing a game, he will respond with a small fit, much like a toddler, and when he wins, he makes sure to let out a hearty electronic chuckle.

Since he is AI driven, he can also get himself into trouble completely on his own, as seen in the video below where he, like a robotic ninja, sneaks up on the family dog only to slam his robotic arm down on the dogs tail.

As of this writing, Cozmo is not available in Canada, but can be purchased in the US for $179.99 USD. 

One thing is for sure, as soon as Anki opens Cozmo up to other countries, I will be first in line!