Clementoni, a long-standing Italian educational toy company, has introduced AIRO, an AI-powered robot designed for children aged nine and up. Short for Artificial Intelligence Robot, Airo aims to represent a significant advancement in educational robotics, offering a careful blend of entertainment and learning.
The new toy can mimic and memorize the kids’ movements in real time, allowing children to teach it new gestures and associate them with voice commands. The system employs machine learning and deep learning algorithms, but the actual processing won't happen on the robot but rather on the companion app for iPhone and Android, suggesting that the models are hosted on the phone rather than the robot itself. The toy does have sensors and, to a degree, can interact based on the programming received from the smartphone app.
With AIRO, we wanted to create a product that not only entertains but can also teach, stimulate creativity, and encourage the development of logical skills, making play increasingly a fundamental educational tool.
Giovanni Clementoni
One of Airo's most intriguing aspects, though, is its potential as a practice tool for kids. By interacting with the robot, assembling it, and programming its movements, children gain hands-on experience with AI and robotics concepts.
“With AIRO, we wanted to create a product that not only entertains but can also teach, stimulate creativity, and encourage the development of logical skills, making play increasingly a fundamental educational tool, in full continuity with our company's history,” states Giovanni Clementoni, CEO of Clementoni. “We are proud to bring to market a product of extraordinary technological innovation, which stands out for its ability to integrate artificial intelligence into the toy in a responsible and natural way, always keeping the children's experience of fun and learning at the center.”
Clementoni's AIRO will be available soon for only €49,00.