Sony Group Corporation ("Sony") today announced that it will collaborate with research laboratories at two universities in Japan and overseas, with the aim of expanding the future capabilities and services of its entertainment robot "aibo." As part of this initiative, Sony will exhibit a prototype aibo model designed for research and development use at SIGGRAPH 2026, one of the world's largest international conferences on computer graphics and interactive technologies, to be held in California, U.S., from July 21 to July 23, 2026.
In addition to promoting initiatives in the field of AI robotics, Sony seeks to enable aibo to play an active role in and become widely adopted throughout society. To date, these efforts have included research activities conducted at medical institutions* as well as providing technological education in academic settings.
Through this collaboration, Sony will provide the two participating university laboratories with prototype aibo models for research and development use, together with beta-version development tools, in order to support their research activities.
From these initiatives, Sony aims to obtain feedback on development hardware and environments from researchers, developers, and creators. Based on such feedback, Sony will accelerate the future development of aibo, while also promoting efforts toward the broader societal implementation of robotics in collaboration with the development community. In addition, Sony will contribute to applied research in the field of physical AI, which has recently seen increasing advancement globally.

Comments from Academic Partners

Comment from Kei Okada, Professor, Department of Mechano-Informatics, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo

Our laboratory has explored the ideal form of robots that live with people through research on social interaction, collaboration, and shared experiences. We believe that this prototype of the research-oriented aibo offers strong potential as a platform for real-world physical intelligence and as a means to explore a future in which humans and robots coexist.

Comment from Angjoo Kanazawa, Assistant Professor of Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley

We are looking forward to experimenting on the aibo's platform, which opens door to interesting social and tactile robot learning algorithm development.

SIGGRAPH 2026 Exhibition Information

Sony will exhibit at SIGGRAPH 2026, to be held in California, U.S., from July 21 through July 23, 2026. A prototype aibo model for research and development use will be showcased at the Sony Group exhibition booth (Booth No. 643).
For more information, please visit:

• SIGGRAPH 2026 - Sony Group Portal

Sony will continue to expand its products and services so that aibo can evolve as a partner that grows together with its owners.

• *aibo is trademark of Sony Group Corporation.
• *All other company and product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.