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Zhou Buqi became very interested in Sony's robots.

Shen Xiangyang is also full of expectations.

It's a pity that there are not many records of robots in the materials.

Zhou Buqi thought of something and called Ning Yaxian. She seemed to be working at Sony at the turn of the century! And she is also a very good employee, and she is engaged in technical work.

The call was connected and it was confirmed.

"Yes, a very important business in the international department where I work is robots, and I have participated in it."

"Huh? Really?"

Zhou Buqi was so surprised that he couldn't believe it.

So Secretary Ning is so fierce? Have you ever participated in a robot project?

Ning Yaxian chuckled and said, "I'm not doing research and development, I'm doing after-sales technical services. Because I'm good at English and I'm better at dealing with foreigners."

Zhou Buqi praised: "That's awesome! Can you tell me more specifically?"

Ning Yaxian said softly: "The robot I was involved in was called Aibo. It was an electronic pet robot dog. It seems that the project was established in 1993 or 1994. The leader of the project was Professor Kitano. He is very kind. If you have any technical problems, go to If you come to him, he is willing to help. He just likes to tell dirty jokes sometimes."

Zhou Buqi laughed loudly, "What a boring slut!"

"He is now the technical director of Sony Computational Science Laboratory. This year's Nature Magazine Outstanding Scientific Mentor Award was awarded to him. Just last month, he became the chairman of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence."

"So understanding?"

"Shen Xiangyang talked to me on the phone yesterday. I went to check specifically."

Zhou Buqi glanced at Shen Xiangyang, who looked innocent next to him, and said, "Oh, go ahead, how about his robot dog?"

"At that time, Professor Kitano planned to make a home entertainment robot that could chat with people and make them happy, but later he found that the technology was too difficult and unrealistic. Moreover, there was no way to break through the technical problem of stability, so he had to make it It has four legs. Since it has four legs, it is more cute to design it like a dog, which later turned into the shape of the robot dog Aibo. Originally, the robot dog also had fur, but later the company felt that if it had fur, the robot dog would be different from a real dog. It’s not easy to distinguish, so the idea of ​​fur is eliminated.”

"What about its function?" Zhou Buqi then asked, "What does the robot dog do?"

Ning Yaxian said: "The technical conditions at that time were very poor, and they could only be low-intelligence robots, and many ideas could not be realized. Originally, I wanted to use Aibo to monitor the elderly to see if they were safe, but at that time, the processors, The network conditions were not good. Later, it had no practical functions and could only run around and bark like a puppy. It was launched on the market in 1999 and sold for as high as $5,000."

"$5,000..." Zhou Buqi twitched the corner of his mouth. This was too extravagant. "This will definitely not open up the market."

Ning Yaxian said: "Yes, the market response to the robot dog was very average, and the scientific research funds could not be recovered. However, Professor Kitano's team received the support of the president of Sony at the time, and the technical conditions were further mature at that time, and they were able to develop a real robot dog. We have a two-legged robot called Qrio."

Zhou Buqi said: "Yes, I know, a robot that can run."

Ning Yaxian smiled and said: "Yes, I can run, but I'm also very smart. Apart from running, I can't do any practical work except for a few actions. A beta version was launched in 2003, and the official version was launched in 2005. We advertise and promote it everywhere, and even appeared on the Spring Festival Gala in China.”

"Yeah?"

"I was watching the Spring Festival Gala at the time, and I was very impressed. However, the price was still too high, and it had no practical functions. Only some very wealthy electronic enthusiasts would buy it, and it was difficult to become a consumer-grade product. Later, Sony's management was reorganized, and The entire robotics department of the Computer Science Laboratory was shut down. Professor Kitano’s team transitioned to making smart card cameras.”

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "The best artificial intelligence product must be a combination of software and hardware. All of Sony's energy is used to develop hardware manufacturing. The things made without the support of the corresponding software system are a bit... a bit Like a soulless body.”

Ning Yaxian said angrily: "You are the only one who talks badly."

Zhou Buqi laughed and said, "Okay, I won't interrupt. I'm discussing this matter with Shen Xiangyang."

"Well, okay..." Ning Yaxian was a little hesitant.

Zhou Buqi asked: "What? Is something wrong?"

Ning Yaxian said: "The delivery date is set, there are still three weeks."

Zhou Buqi glanced at Shen Xiangyang carefully, thinking that he might not have heard, so he said loudly: "I know, I'll go over after I've been busy for a while!"

After finishing the exchange with Ning Yaxian, Shen Xiangyang said proactively: "As you said, a great artificial intelligence product cannot be separated from the hardware and software levels. Ziweixing's weakness is the hardware , the strength is the system, algorithm and software level. Sony is the king in the hardware field, such as the Qrio robot. The reason why it can run must be that they have specially researched the relevant coordination control components internally."

Zhou Buqi said: "This is the era of globalization, and any product must contain science and technology from all over the world. It is impossible for any company to be self-sufficient in a product from top to bottom, from the inside out." Make it. Especially high-tech products like robots. The business model of full-industry chain manufacturing that Sony insists on is still in the World War II stage and has long been outdated."

Shen Xiangyang nodded, "Indeed, this is a common shortcoming among Japanese companies."

During World War II, because Japan was the evil party, it cut off the global supply chain and had to be self-sufficient in all its products, from a screw to an aircraft carrier.

This has led a large number of established companies in Japan to form a business habit of not relying on outsiders for the entire industrial chain.

Decades have passed, and the sequelae of the war still remain in Japanese companies.

Before the Soviet Union collapsed, globalization did not develop.

At that time, the model of Japanese companies was unparalleled in the world, and their products were extremely competitive around the world and could dominate the world. But after the 1990s, globalization came. Under the global supply chain system, technology companies burst out with the vitality that they had never done before. When integrating suppliers, they can shop around and choose manufacturing companies with good technology and low costs. of suppliers.

In this way, you can make your own products high quality, low price and high profit.

This dealt a fatal blow to Japanese companies.

Under the new situation of the great changes of the times, all Japanese products with a full industry chain model are basically dying, and those who survive are struggling to find a reasonable path to reform.

Zhou Buqi seized the opportunity given by the times.

Shen Xiangyang is also very excited about this, "If we can get the relevant data materials and design principles of the Qrio robot, and then provide corresponding components through global suppliers, we can make it with lower cost, better performance and more Beautiful robots.”

Zhou Buqi said: "Combined with our own artificial intelligence technology, we can solve the problem that Sony has been plagued by robots that have no functional role for more than ten years!"

Shen Xiangyang smiled and said: "You can have voice chat."

Zhou Buqi said: "There can be camera identification."

Shen Xiangyang said: "You can connect it to the Internet and play songs or a cross talk by Lao Guo."

Zhou Buqi said: "There can be more Internet of Things operations, which can control the switching of lights, curtains, TVs, and water heaters. Even when there is an emergency at home, the robot can automatically call the police or call an ambulance."

Shen Xiangyang said: "We should also explore artificial intelligence in hardware, which can help wash dishes, mop the floor, and pick up and place things."

"Uh..." Zhou Buqi's eyes were complicated, "Isn't that too far away? We are making electronic pet robots, not industrial robots. We mainly use our Internet company's expertise in algorithms, systems and application software. Advantages. It’s enough that the robot can run, shake hands and talk.”

Shen Xiangyang smiled and said, "The technologies are all interoperable. If the software has achieved that level, it will not be a problem for the hardware to control the simple tasks of washing dishes."

This is a matter of vision.

Even though the other party is a top scientist in artificial intelligence, he is really not as good as Boss Zhou in this regard.

Zhou Buqi corrected: "It's really different. In the technology industry, the most powerful ones are Internet companies. The development speed of hardware companies is far slower than that of Internet companies. Just like Apple, is Apple a hardware company? This The business logic of many companies is the Internet, and they are actually Internet companies. Including Tesla, which makes electric cars, it is also an Internet company. The best scientific and technological talents in the world choose the Internet first, and then other fields. Artificial intelligence is in The development speed of the software field will definitely exceed that of the hardware field."

He was sure of his judgment.

In the past life, artificial intelligence had developed to a relatively high level in the software field. Driverless cars were running all over the streets, and AI technology was applied to all walks of life. In fact, it is an artificial intelligence software system paired with traditional industrial products, rather than artificial intelligence robots.

Shen Xiangyang smiled and said: "That's a good thing. What we are best at is the software field."

Zhou Buqi said: "There is another direction, please focus on it."

"oh?"

"life sciences."

"ah?"

Shen Xiangyang was stunned for a moment, thinking how could Boss Zhou know everything? And life sciences? You understand, I don’t understand!

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "It's actually not that complicated. You can add some medical functions to the robot. It's definitely not too difficult, but the robot can measure body temperature, blood pressure, and heartbeat. This shouldn't be difficult. Just... Shake hands with the robot, well, you can do it like this."

Shen Xiangyang took a deep breath, "It makes sense. The combination of AI and the medical industry is what Google is doing. It plans to rely on artificial intelligence to solve many world-class medical problems."

"Right, that is it!"

Zhou Buqi was very excited.

Shen Xiangyang coughed lightly, "First of all, we must be able to reach an agreement with Sony and buy their robot project."