Sony
aibo ERS-1000
The premium robotic dog with a cloud-grown personality.
Also tracked as research record R-003 in the expanded catalogue
Bottom line.
A compact buying view before the full evidence trail.
- Best fit
- Expressive pet-like companionship
- Primary watch-out
- High purchase and continuing service cost
- Region
- United States
- Required service
- $300 USD/year required after 36 included months
- Realistic 3-year cost
- ≈ $3,199.99 USD over 3 years · current required plan held constant
- Evidence maturity
- Partial1 independent or research record
Time-sensitive claims are within the editorial review window; the next scheduled threshold is Aug 28, 2026.
Sony’s expressive quadruped learns routines, recognizes familiar faces, maps its environment, and develops an individual behavior profile over time.
Best understood as a premium, mobile character rather than a utility robot: unusually expressive and technically sophisticated, but expensive and deeply tied to Sony’s service.
Capability descriptions are based primarily on current manufacturer documentation. They are not independent performance test results.
The experience in practice.
- Autonomous walking and room mapping
- Face recognition and individualized responses
- Touch, voice, pose, and environmental sensing
- Photos, tricks, patrol-like routines, and app features
- High purchase and continuing service cost
- Core experience depends on Sony’s cloud plan
- Stairs, clutter, and delicate joints require a managed environment
Expressive pet-like companionship
Households with open floor space
Owners who value movement and personality
Low-maintenance ownership
Offline-first households
Homes where cameras and cloud biometrics are unacceptable
Five separate fit signals.
These editorial signals summarize interaction emphasis—not quality, intelligence, or an overall rank. A low score can be a deliberate design choice.
What enters the room with it.
Full functionality uses Sony cloud services. Sony’s US notice describes face-related information and selected photos that may be backed up; owners are responsible for consent involving household members and visitors. [A3]
The physical facts.
- Power
- Approximately 2 hours; self-charging behavior supported
- Vision
- Front and mapping cameras; photos and face-related features
- Audio input
- Four microphones
- AI architecture
- Mostly cloud. Wi‑Fi and LTE (service availability varies by market)
- SDK & openness
- No general public SDK positioned for the consumer model
- Size
- Approx. 180 × 293 × 305 mm
- Weight
- Approx. 2.2 kg
The cost beyond checkout.
Snapshot reviewed Jul 14, 2026; tax, shipping, bundles, and promotions may differ.
Rechecked US price, cloud-plan renewal, sensing, and regional privacy notice.
Use it as the product it is.
Treat it as delicate mobile electronics rather than a toy. Keep travel areas dry, level, and clear, and review Sony’s regional restrictions before purchase. [A3]
Companion robots are not substitutes for professional care, clinical judgment, emergency services, or human consent. Safety depends on the exact model, environment, user, and region.
Sources & revision record.
Primary sources establish what the maker currently documents. Independent research can test narrower questions, but source count is never treated as evidence strength.
Robot therapy aids mental health during protective isolation
Small randomized study in a specific hospital population; it does not establish general therapeutic benefit.
Open sourceEditorial-system change only; product facts were not reverified on this date.
citations · source metadata · revision history · reviewed by Automated data-integrity checksScheduled primary-source review.
product facts · reviewed by Companions.wiki editorsHelp improve this dossier.
Corrections should identify the exact claim, replacement wording, region, date, and a public source.
