HANDS ON REVIEW: ROBOSAPIEN V2 8.4 The good: Attractive design; Speaks clearly and understandable: moves well on hard floors; the moving eyes which track movement and sound are very cool; large range of movement The bad: Head is flimsy and could break; the large size means that the robot needs a big space to move around in; the interactivity and automation is somewhat limited The bottom line: Despite it’s large size, Robosapien V2 moves well and speaks clearly with a lot of customization options. People with an interest in robots will probably be entertained by this toy, but it is still to limited to convert those who are not interested. RoboSapien (V1) was a huge hit with consumers. RoboSapien V2 is bigger and better than V1. It speaks very clearly with fun pre-recorded sayings. It is a very large robot and needs a lot of space in which to move well.  VIDEO FILES: AVI FILES ( "SAVE AS" TO YOUR COMPUTER, THEN PLAY )

First Impression

The size of Robosapien V2 is impressive when viewed in the store. At 21” tall Robosapien V2 is much bigger than Robosapien V1. The design is attractive and the robot looks solidly constructed. The packaging describes Robosapien V2’s features in detail. Packaged along with the robot is a remote control, a ball and some bowling pins.


Unpacking

Get out the wire cutters! Unpacking Robosapien V2 from the box is quite a chore. Perhaps due to all of the complex moving parts and delicate nature, the robot is very securely packed into his box by a large number of heavy wires. The wires are tied to the box on many different sides and trying to get Robosapien V2 out of the box before you unbind all of the wires can be dangerous because it puts stress on the parts of Robosapien V2 that are still anchored to the box. So you will probably want to make sure that you have cut all of the wires before trying to remove it from the box.

Once you have the robot unpacked you will need to install a large quantity of batteries. The batteries not only give the robot power but they also weight down his feet to give him balance. I originally had trouble getting Robosapien V2 to run but after buying and installing new batteries, I didn’t have any more trouble.

Features

• His blue LED eyes light up, blink and track movements with infrared sensors; they even recognize colors! His vision, touch sensors and stereoscopic hearing help Robosapien V2 interact with his environment with remarkable autonomy.
• Advanced new Robosapien V2 now standing almost two feet tall, has grown to nearly twice the size of his popular but primitive predecessor.
• Unlike the prior generation, Version Two talks in English, interacting with humans and fellow "Signature Series" robots (Robopet and Roboraptor) in surprisingly smart ways.
• The bigger, better body of Robosapien V2 strides or dances with impressive biomechanical fluidity; he can sit or lie down and get up again, all by himself!
• Exclusive Sharper Image "Signature Series" Robosapien V2 features a distinctive gunmetal gray body; and only ours sports a tattoo of his inventor's signature on its leg: Mark Tilden.

Robosapien V2 speaks well and says some genuinely funny things. The speech function may be one of it’s strongest features. The voice is a male voice. It is clear from the start that Robosapien V2 takes himself very seriously and is all business, which is why he is funny. He says things like “user error”, “hope nobody saw that”, “tracking” and many more. If you press the “D” button on the remote he dances – he does the “robot”.

If you place objects in front of him, which are similar in size to a pop can, then he will bend down to pick them up when commanded by the remote. He has huge hands and his grasp is a little clumsier than I expected when I bought it.

If commanded, the robot will move around and explore its environment. My house is of average size and Robosapien V2 had a little trouble at times while navigating. He would sometimes stop and his eyes would blink for long periods of time as if he was not sure what to do next. This seemed to result more from its size than from underdeveloped senses. I wonder if Robosapien V2 made at half of its current size might be able to navigate better within the spaces of my home.

Robosapien V2 was not as good at moving on carpet as some of the other robots we tested. Again, he seemed somewhat hindered by his size and weight. There were settings that could be changed which would make Robosapien V2 walk differently on carpet. These settings helped a little.

If Robosapien V2 falls on its back he can get back into a standing position without help. It’s range of moveable parts is pretty impressive.

The way the eyes move around and track movement and sound is especially impressive. This does more to bring Robosapien V2 to life and to give him personality than any other single feature. He has glowing blue eyes that move within his head.

This robot does come with an instruction manual which covers many of the commands available to the operator. I have only had Robosapien V2 a couple of weeks and I still am interested in exploring more of what he can do. There seems to be a lot of depth here but you have to work to find it.


Value

At the time of my writing this review, Robosapien V2 is currently $200. Considering its lack of competition, this seems to be a fair price. When you play with Robosapien V2 he seems well built (except for his head) and I do feel that he was worth $200.


Target Audience

A child or early teen may not have the patience to find this depth and may get bored with Robosapien V2 after a day or two.

In fact, as a toy robot, Robosapien V2 is somewhat limited by its low level of usability and interactivity. By this, I mean that the learning curve for using this robot is high and this robot may be more appropriate for early adopters and people who have an interest in robotics. As an example, most of the people who I know who like computer games would be interested in Robosapien V2, but my wife didn’t care for it. The interactive elements of this robot aren’t simple enough to interest someone with little patience for technology.

Bottom Line

If you are interested in technology and robots, this is one of the most advanced commercially available robots on the market today. I would highly recommend it. But if you are buying this as a toy for a child, you may want to consider the child’s age and level of technological skill. This robot is complicated enough that some children may get bored with it quickly.