Dog.com

Dog.com (ドッグ.コム according to the Japanese release or Chien.com according to the Canadian box) is an interactive robot dog from TOMY, released in 2000. While I don't know the release date and RRP for the U.S. and France, Dog.com was scheduled to be released in Japan on the 30th of November that year for 14,800 yen.

Dog.com was developed with the intent of it being a conversational robot, that at first, will make only dog noises, but eventually start to speak like a human (English, Japanese, or French; depending whether you have a Dog.com corresponding to any of the languages mentioned here). According to the U.S. patent, Dog.com was invented by Shinya Saito, who is also credited in some patents for Nintendo.

The robot was shown at Robodex 2000 and at the Tokyo Toy Show that year.

According to TOMY's website, in terms of lore, it's rumored that words from emails on a computer, that was used for development, were transferred to Dog.com.

Appearance

Dog.com is a robot dog with a round translucent red nose, an elliptial pair of ears, a silver tail, a gray neck, and a silver chest area with a heart-shaped area that has speaker holes. The dog has silver feet, and an area of the dog's body, between the dog's front legs and the back legs, is silver.

While Dog.com was sold in a shiny pale blue colorway, Dog.com was also sold in "Platinum White", exclusively in Japan. For this colorway, the blue parts of the dog are white.

History (Prototypes & Target Audience)

Target Audience

Dog.com's target demographic in Japan was women in their 20s and elementary school kids old enough to ask their parents for it. From interviews by Osamu Kirisako, who worked at TOMY, they found that the maximum amount people would be willing to spend on something valuable, such as a mobile phone, would be 20,000 yen. TOMY considered releasing Dog.com for 15,000 yen, as a result, but they chose 14,800 yen as the retail price. According to an interview, TOMY did not price Dog.com for less than 10,000 yen, due to how advanced Dog.com is, and TOMY did not want to remove features that Dog.com was already given to have it priced for less than 10,000 yen.

Color

Dog.com's initial color was gold, and it was referred to as "Human Dog". TOMY then decided to make their robot dog pink, due to how Momo from So-net was popular around the time. When they produced Dog.com in pink, Dog.com looked like a bald dog (I wish TOMY shared a photo of it).

Apparently, a blue prototype displayed in July 2000 at a tradee event was pink initially, so there may not be a pink prototype Dog.com out there.

There were plenty of female employees who worked on Dog.com. From listening to opinions by females, males on the development team learned that girls intentionally dislike pink once they reach middle school age, and apparently, this is done to show they aren't a child. This is why Dog.com is blue.

Additionally, at the Tokyo Toy Show in 2000, visitors asked why Human Dog was gold.

When Kirisako was questioned in the July 2000 interview what colorways Dog.com would be available in, he stated at the time no colorways had been planned yet. However, on the 24th of February, 2001, the Platinum White version of Dog.com was scheduled for release, exclusively in Japan.

Human Dog

"Human Dog" was Dog.com's original name. Dog.com is a streamlined version of Human Dog with a reduced amount of joints and motors.

Three prototypes for Human Dog, plus a smaller version of it, are known to exist. I had a bit of trouble trying to describe this dog's appearance, but I tried.

Prototype 1

A photo of a Human Dog prototype

Human Dog's eyes are white, its head, body, and legs are gold, and its nose is a dark shade of red. Its nose is opaque and doesn't look like it's supposed to light up. It has a silver chest area, and near each foot, on the left side of each leg, is a silver circle.

Human Dog's feet and tail are silver, but the tip of its tail is gold. The area between the upper and lower half of the dog is silver. The start and end of this silver area has two large gold rings with circular bumps. Its face has a raised, circular bump near its snout on one side, and two raised circular bumps on its ears (there's only one photo of this prototype showing one side of it, but I'd guess these bumps appear on the other side of the dog, too).

Unlike Dog.com, this and the other Human Dog prototypes known to exist have an empty gap between both their eyes. There is no empty gap between the arches for Dog.com's eyes.

I don't know if this is simply a mockup that isn't functional.

Prototype 2

This prototype has the same look as prototype 1, but with some differences. The bolt/screw which hinges the jaw has a silver circular cap, and the head is attached to the body differently. For prototype 1, there is a circular gold plate, to which the head is attached. For prototype 2, the head is attached to the body by what appears to be a rectangular white/silver piece. I don't know if it moves its neck the same way Dog.com does, or if the neck is supposed to have something that can allow it to bend. I haven't seen video footage of Human Dog.

Prototype 2 is also missing a circular bump near its nose, and this prototype's body is more blocky and less round, in contrast to prototype 1. The silver patch on its chest is almost the same shape as the chest area.

Only 2 units of this prototype are known to exist. The two prototypes and Human Dog Baby were shown at the 2000 Tokyo Toy Fair.

Prototype 3

Dog.com & Human Dog at Robodex2000

This prototype is a lot like prototype 2, except, its chest has a few small holes. It was on display at Robodex2000.

Human Dog Baby

Human Dog Baby looks a lot like a miniature version of prototype 2. It has a small circular bump near its nose, like prototype 1. Only 1 unit is known to exist.

Functions

Human Dog is capable of speaking actual words like a human in Kansai dialect. An ASCII article states Human Dog speaks in an old man's voice, and has a vocabulary of approximately 20,000 recorded words. Human Dog was created to communicate with its owner, and to use more of its vocabulary the more you and Human Dog get along. Unlike Dog.com, Human Dog expresses itself by lighting up its eyes. Human Dog Baby can't talk as much as its fully-grown version, but it can communicate with its older version.

Human Dog has 17 motors and sensors such as a light sensor, sound sensor, contact sensor, touch sensor, and tilt sensor.

Prototype Box Art

A box with photos of Human Dog's head, taken from different angles, exists. However, the box also says "Dog.com" on it, and appears to have 2D art of a Dog.com as well.

Blue Prototypes

Functions

Movements

Dog.com can wag his tail, sit or stand, open and close his eyes, raise or lower his head, turn his head left or right, and move his mouth when speaking. While moving his mouth, his nose pokes in and out.

Stages & Personalities

In Dog.com's first stage, he will only make dog sounds at first. In stage two, he will slowly start talking like a human, but by stage 3, he will only talk instead of barking. According to the English manual, Dog.com will speak more than 700 English phrases, and according to a Japanese article and the box for French Dog.coms, Dog.com speaks 795 phrases in total.

Dog.com has multiple personalities, and he will switch to a personality, depending on how you treat him. With certain personalities, Dog.com doesn't move as much.

While the Japanese and English versions have 16 personalities, according to their official documentation, some French commercials and the French Dog.com box claim Dog.com has 18 personalities.

Sensors

Dog.com reacts if you press his nose, rub his chin, pet his head, block his light sensor, place him on his side (tilt sensor), call him, and stroke his back. He also reacts when he doesn't receive any attention from you.

Personalities

The English version has the following personalities:

  1. Lost Puppy
  2. Outrageous
  3. Grouch
  4. Afraid
  5. Philosophical
  6. Joker
  7. Advice
  8. Whinny
  9. Show Time
  10. Tough
  11. Space Alien
  12. Mushey
  13. Flirt
  14. Know It All
  15. Silly
  16. Insulting

Some Personality Phrases (English)

These lines were copied from the box. These aren't all of Dog.com's lines.

Lost Puppy

Outrageous

Joker

Afraid

Philosophical

Grouch

Advice

Whinny

Show Time

Tough

Space Alien

Mushey

Flirt

Know it all

Silly

Insulting

Gallery

Page 28 of "Le Monde" (December 14, 2001)

Dog.com Wearing Different Outfits (From TOMY's Japanese Website)

CGI Dog.com Images

Illustrations from TOMY's website

Canadian Packaging

Japanese Box & Accessories

Trivia

Videos

Links

Human Dog Info & Images