Pleo the Dinosaur

Think your family can't have a pet because of allergies and the mess? How about owning your own pet dinosaur? Technology unthinkable even five years ago has made the Senario 22208 Pleo A Ugobe Life Form an affordable opportunity to have an interactive, cognizant, robotic animal in your home. This dinosaur adapts to your home, moves independently without a remote control, explores, and expresses emotional responses to your actions. The Pleo has a personality of its own; it will never behave the same way for another family.

Scenario Plea begins as it would as a baby dinosaur. Its initial stage is a hatched baby "Camarasaurus." Don't expect to be able to order it around, because Pleo has exploring it wants to do! Pleo develops habits and peculiarities unique to its surroundings, feelings and experiences from living with you. Pleo's emotions run the gamut from excited, curious, and content to frightened, angry, and playful. Pleo contains Ugobe's Life Operating System platform, which contains AI (artificial intelligence), programs and new technology to give the dinosaur an endless combination of emotions, vocalizations, and reactions. You can download plugins and various enhancements from www.pleoworld.com, but Pleo's behavior and actions depend largely on you, its new friend and companion, and there's no predicting what Pleo will decide to do next!

Looking at Senario's Pleo from a schematic point of view, this robot dino must have sensory overload: there are almost forty different electronic devices that provide it with its senses – touch, sight, hearing, and a way of tasting or detecting food in its mouth via an infared interruptor. There are binaural microphones in each ear to allow for hearing in stereo so that Pleo can detect noise coming from all directions and how loud that noise is. Pleo's color camera allows it to differentiate between light and dark, see in colors, detect movement around it and discern when there is an object in front of it. It can also track a moving object and follow it. All Pleo have infared transmitters and receivers, so they know when other Pleo are near and will interact with them. There are eight touch sensors on Pleo's body, 100 gears and 14 different motors that allow it to move realistically and feel objects with which it comes into contact. The motors each have a force feedback sensor that can detect when someone has grabbed Pleo forcefully by the neck, torso, legs or tail and shut down during trauma. Pleo can appear injured and display a limp until the proper amount and duration of nurturing allows it to heal.

The specs for Senario's Pleo Ugobe Life Form are as follows: it measures 21" long, 6" wide and 7.5" high and weighs three and a half pounds. It comes with a rechargeable, replaceable Nickel-Metal Hydride battery and an AC charger for regular outlets, a companion's guide, an instructional training "leaf," a Pleo Identity Card, and access to the downloads and enhancements on the website.

There aren't any comparable toys on the market by which to measure Pleo's performance, and with no test models available to reviewers, it's hard to tell whether Pleo's longevity will match the extra warranty you can buy for an additional fee. There are video previews that the company has released on the web, however. Pleo has the ability to rest when it is tired, and it will proceed to do so when the battery is running low. The NiMH battery supplies one hour of play and requires four hours to recharge, so use your Pleo wisely. Pleo is emphatically not intended for younger children, as it is a long-term investment like a normal pet would be without the litter box and food. Pleo is a pet that requires long-term care, attention, and dedication. It is designed for adolescents, teens and adults only, although it is rated E for Everyone and younger members of a family can certainly interact with it. There is a 90-day warranty that comes with the product, and Pleo is meant for indoor, dry climates. Even though it adds to the price of the toy, the extra warranty is probably a good idea, since the toy relies on various machinery and technology to function and you'll want to extend the toy's life as long as possible.

In the history of toy making, Pleo represents the first life-like, artificially intelligent pet that assumes self-awareness and is available to the general population. Technology has reached a truly significant tipping point, where what scientists considered science fiction two decades ago is now a holiday gift. The Scenario Pleo makes decisions of its own free will, something citizens have only seen in exhibitions and laboratories in expensive prototypes. Yes, Pleo is an investment, but the opportunity to be a part of technological history is priceless. You can still pre-order now while there are a few copies left, but not for long. The recommendation?   

 

   Order it today, right now!