Anki Cozmo

A little robot friend is my best friend. It loves me, and I love it back. It does, at least, so. Anki’s Cozmo ($179.99) is the most playful and adorable toy I have ever seen. It brought me so much joy, even though it was almost 20 years older than the recommended age of 8. Cozmo was a great toy, and learned my name and my friends’ names. He also tried to teach me how to code in a block-based, rudimentary language. If you can bear the cost, this toy is great for kids interested in technology. It relies too much on its smartphone app.

Cozmo is a tiny robot that looks like a tank. It has treads like a tank and arms like a backhoe. It also has a voice similar to Wall-E. And it has wide, blue eyes, just like a child. The toy’s red, white, and silver plastic construction makes it seem like it shouldn’t be played with too much. However, it has survived many drops from my desk.

Cozmo can recognize his surroundings by placing a camera on his face. After I had taught it how to recognize me (and my name), the toy welcomed me. It purred “ANN-DROO” and enjoyed playing with its favorite accessories, three blocks in a particular pattern. Cozmo loves to stack and roll the blocks and play games with them.

Cozmo’s 128×64 display shows only black and blue colors to show the robot’s emotions. The joyous, happy faces of Cozmo and the sad eyes that look at the ground when it loses a game made me smile. It also “sneezes,” and it gets the hiccups.

Cozmo also has a big accessory: its charger. It is a cradle that Cozmo uses to stand on or sleep on. The app allows you to place the toy in a safe location. It will close its eyes and let out a few snores when it is put to sleep.

Cozmo uses its CPU to determine what the toy should do next. Most user-based computing happens through the Cozmo App, available for iOS and Android and in the Amazon App Store.

First, the app will ask you to connect your tablet or phone to Cozmo via Wi-Fi. Although the robot doesn’t connect to the internet directly, Wi-Fi offers better bandwidth than Bluetooth. Cozmo has a network; you must link to it when you open the app. This will take you away from your home network.

You can earn Energy by completing daily goals in the app. This will level up Cozmo and give you more Bits (to unlock other modes) and Sparks (a currency that keeps you playing). These goals can be as simple as playing for a set amount of time or making Cozmo perform specific actions.

Sidebars in the app let you “Spark” specific actions, such as asking the machine to stack its cube toys or offering a fist bump. You can also download various apps, including keep away, Explorer Mode, which allows you to control Cozmo, and Code Lab remotely. These features are unavailable simultaneously, so you must earn Sparks to unlock them.

After Cozmo has been used for a while, your child can start learning to program using the Code Lab feature of the app. This is MIT’s Scratch programming language. It allows you to drag and drop action-based blocks to control the robot. Although it’s simple enough for adults, kids can create new sequences quickly.

Code Lab’s current version allows children to create programs that use “horizontal grammar.” This means that the blocks move from left to right and thus don’t allow for complex sequences. However, MIT claims children younger than six find horizontal code easier. Anki also says that the Cozmo is targeted at those children. Children can code with the blocks using icons rather than reading words. A new update will be available in the fall with more complex blocks and vertical grammar.

My Code Lab trial involved making Cozmo dance with a cube. This involved turning the toys’ backlight blue, scanning the cube for one, then picking it up and turning it four times. I also put in a shell to make it repeat twice more, effectively making Cozmo turn around. Finally, I set the cube down, backing away and putting it down. The Lab also allows for specific voice commands, facial recognition, animal impressions, and various emotions.

Drag-and-drop block language may not be the best. Sometimes it can be hard to place blocks exactly where you want them in the chain. It’s also challenging to reorder them. The system is easy enough to keep children engaged for long periods, and it’s detailed enough.