Asimo vs Jibo

One super-advanced android slave vs one you can actually buy. Fight!

One’s a super-robot. The other shows videos on its face, but is somewhat cheaper

Asimo

Honda’s in-house droid has gone through eight iterations since its 2000 launch – the 2006 one was rather fond of falling over hilariously (check YouTube). But this year’s more reliable, upgraded bot can now run at 9km/h, dodge pedestrians and is now classed as “fully autonomous”, so long as you remember to charge him up. Honda’s robotics boffs have also taught Asimo to

distinguish between voices, while its hands are dextrous enough to twist off

bottle-caps and use sign language. Unfortunately it’s stuck playing robotic guinea pig for the foreseeable future so there’s no hope of having one in your house just yet, although that is the goal.

asimo.honda.com

Jibo

For now, this little Pixar-ish cutie is the ultimate home robo-pal. The Indiegogo creation does everything from snapping selfies to teaching your kids by means of educational games and videos. He

has a touchscreen for a face, two speakers for a voicebox, a 360-degree

mic for ears and a camera with facial-recognition software for eyes. Movement is handled by a three-axis motor, and the idiosyncratic movement this gives Jibo imbues him with a lot personality. Move over, Lassie…

Myjibo.com