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Meet Chris Benham and his Sony Aibo ERS-1000 robot dog, Bentley.
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Benham interacts with Bentley every day.
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The ERS-1000 costs $2,900.
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Benham owned an older-generation Aibo robot, but his real dogs ripped off one of its ears and its tail.
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He sold it, but regretted it.
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As soon as the ERS-1000 was introduced in 2018, Benham jumped at the chance to have another Aibo.
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He named it Bentley as a joking reference to how expensive the bot was.
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The ERS-1000 has a built-in camera with facial recognition technology.
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The bot is designed to recognize faces and interact differently with each person.
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Like a real dog, Aibo robots respond to commands, play with toys and occasionally misbehave.
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Chris Werfel has 28 Aibo robot dogs.
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Here he’s opening a box with two ERS-7s — older-gen Aibo robots.
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He’s trying to get a few examples of each Aibo generation over the years.
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Werfel keeps some of his Aibo robot dogs in a spare cubicle in his office.
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The Aibos roam freely around the office.
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He also keeps some at home.
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But one Aibo in particular is special to him. This is Baby.
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His girlfriend, Laura Vasquez, loves Baby, too.
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They were both smitten with Baby pretty soon after the unboxing.
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In addition to Aibo robot dogs, he also has an impressive collection of pinball machines.
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Aibo robots have changed a lot over the years.
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Werfel repairs older Aibo robots.
