1. Why did Sony have to change its name?

2. What is Walkman, Watchman and Discman?

3. Sony predicted: "The Eighties was the age of the pc and the Nineties was the age of the Internet, the 2000s will be the age of the robot." - what will be the 2010s?

_{4. Mitsubishi have developed a robot, called Wakamaru, which can identify up to ten people and talk to them. It can recognize 10,000 words. It will wake you up in the morning and remind you of all the things you have to do that day. If you go on holiday, you can leave it to look after your house. It will report any problem by mobile phone.}

_{What tasks would you most like a robot to perform for you?}

5. Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the words below:

_{a) consumer b) ability c) compact d) feel e) inherent}

_{f) sophisticated g) artificial h) mean i) product j) target}

In Japanese, AIBO 1___________ “companion.” In English, AIBO is an acronym for “2____________ Intelligence Bot”. In any language, the Sony AIBO represents the most sophisticated 3____________ ever offered in the 4___________ robot marketplace.

Sony’s AIBO began its commercial life as one of the first high-end robots 5___________ for the home. AIBO represents a new class of robot – relatively cheap, highly 6____________, and very stable, with his four-legged motion. AIBO can see, hear, and understand commands (showing true dog-like behavior, it is also programmed to occasionally ignore them). AIBO has the 7____________ to learn, to adapt to its environment, and to express emotion. AIBO sees in color, hears in stereo, and 8______________ objects with its feet. It has grown more 9_______________ over the years as new features have been added.

In short, AIBO is a “Swiss Army Knife” of robotic possibilities. Because of the 10_______________ flexibility of its design, AIBO does many things well.

Text 17

Read the text and explain the term ‘interaction design’.

IDEO

Founded 1969 London, England

Ideo is a design and innovation consultancy based in Palo Alto, California, United States with other offices in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Boston, London, Munich and Shanghai. The company helps design products, services, environments, and digital experiences. Additionally, the company has become increasingly involved in management consulting. The firm employs approximately 550 people in the disciplines of Human factors, Mechanical, Electrical and Software Engineering, Industrial Design, and Interaction Design. IDEO has worked on thousands of projects for a large number of clients in the consumer, computer, medical, furniture, toy, office and automotive industries.

When the British industrial designer Bill Moggridge created the computer mouse for Microsoft in the mid-1980s, he unearthed nothing less than а seam of gold. In its heyday up to seven million copies of Moggridge’s mouse were produced every year. Moggridge had moved from London to California, the centre of the digital revolution, in the 1970s. Some fifteen years later he founded Ideo with partners David Kelley and Mike Nuttall. By the end of the 1990s Ideo had become one of the most successful design agencies in the United States. Today it also has branches in Germany, Great Britain and Japan. Computers have always been Moggridge’s main focus. His studio designed Compass, the first laptop-style computer (For GridSystems), which formed part of the equipment in the NASA Space Shuttle. He also devised the first computer mouse for Apple, following this with the first mouse for Microsoft. In the late 1990s Ideo introduced the Softbook, the first electronic book (for Gemstar eBook). The Palm V organizer, design for Palm Computing, was also innovative and successful.

Consumers come into daily contact wish the creative ideas of Ideo not only when they click on their mouse but also in other routine tasks, such as cleaning their teeth. The tooth-paste tube developed for Procter & Gamble promises а ‘neat squeeze’, one of the mobile telephones created for Siemens can be worn as а clip. Moggridge combines British originality with American business sense, а formula that perhaps represents the original concept behind the founding of the company. This successful combination has generated products that not only sell unusually well but are radically new, as in the case of the minimalist wall-mounted CD player developed for Muji. This item emerged as а best-seller for the Japanese trading company, breathing fresh air into one of the more unexciting product categories.

Over the succeeding years, believing that the design of an interface must be an integral part of а product’s development, Moggridge christened and pioneered а new discipline known as ‘Interaction Design’. By offering а full product development service, the consultancy’s interdisciplinary teams translate ideas into ready-to-manufacture products. IDEO’s non-linear design methodology, which includes brainstorming sessions, can at times appear chaotic. This way of working, however, generates а powerful synergy that harnesses both creativity and cutting-edge technology to produce design solutions that are both novel and imaginative.

1. Role play: go to http://www.ideo.com/culture/questions/ There you can see а table of 20 questions to IDEO. Student А will be а reporter / young designer / customer; Student S will be IDEO spokes person. Ask and answer questions depending on the goals of your position.