Aibo: The world’s first robot dog

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In 1999, Aibo, the world's first robot dog, hit the shops in Japan with a test sale of 3,000 products which sold out in just 20 minutes. Toshitada Doi spent six years on the project when he was a senior vice-president of Sony. Aibo could bark, walk, growl, wag his tail, and play with a ball, but he also came with a hefty price tag of $2,500. The canine robots even featured in RoboCup, the four-legged Robot Soccer League. Toshitada Doi is now a best-selling author and goes by the name of Shiro Tenge, he speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma about the invention. (Photo: Aibo robot dog, 2021 version. Credit: Yuichi Yamazaki, Getty Images)