Pleo Being Left Behind

With all the talk being about Nintendo's Wii Console and the Robosapien RS thingy. The poor little Camarasaurus that is the Pleo Robotic Dinosaur is feeling left out.

The only developments is that Ugobe have updated their website with some information about the original dinosaur. Such as:

CAMARASAURUS (KAM-ah-rah-sawr-us) "Chambered Lizard" (Greek kamara = chamber + sauros = lizard, referring to the holes in its vertebrae)

Also Known As: Morosaurus
Description: Herbivore, Quadrupedal
Order: Saurischia
Suborder: Sauropodomorpha
Infraorder: Sauropoda
Family: Camarasauridae
Height: 23 feet (7 meters)
Length: 60 feet (18.3 meters)
Weight: 40,000 lbs (18,144 kg)
Period: Late Jurassic

Also they inform us that the Camarasaurus is the best-known sauropod found in North America and gives us the most abundant supply of fossils in the Late Jurassic.

People this side of the pond my also like to know that the Camarasaurus lived in Europe too, where it survived into Early Cretaceous times.

Pleo Podcast from the San Fransisco Chronical

The San Fransisco Chronicle has put online a very interesting podcast about the Pleo Dinosaur and its creators - Ugobe.

It's a very interesting podcast and well worth a listen. Much of the information has already been published on the internet, but if you're a fan I'm sure you'll want a listen.

Tweaking your Pleo's Personality

One feature that we love about the new Pleo is that you can hook it up to the internet and adjust it's personality - this is planned for 2007, however. But it may be ready for launch.

They'll also offer developers the opportunity to create software to allow Pleo owners to adjust its personality in other ways.

You'll also have the opportunity to control the dinosaur via your pc with an on-screen animation.

Bob Christopher, Chief Executive of Ugobe, commented about this feature to PC Magazine:

The idea we want you to have from us is that Pleo is much more of a life form. It's much more about part of the experience with it, how you want to interact with and have your Pleo behave, instead of programming a robot that's just going to walk cross a table.

Pleo Robotic Dinosaur

Finally we've got amazing footage of the Pleo robotic dinosaur! Many of the pictures on this website and elsewhere certainly haven't done it justice! But this 5 mins 30 seconds shows the little critter in action! Go enjoy! P.s. leave us your thoughts!

Pleo Robot Podcast

If you want to want to learn more about the Pleo toy then listen to this Podcast from Radio Tail. It's a fascinating podcast.

Caleb Chung talks about the process of making a new toy and the genisis of a new technology that we'll look back in the future as a paradigm shift in robot/human interaction.

He points that it is essential that Ugobe's toys respond to the environment around them and continue to evolve over time.

The pleo toy is just the first step on the road for truely amazing toy robots.

Customise your Pleo

Apart from the kids that will love the Pleo, there'll be those "adults" amongst us that will love to personalise their Pleo given its customisation options. They hope that software development firms and fans will give options to make their Pleo different with the avaliability of a Pleo Software development kit.

Out with the Aibo in with the Pleo

This little creature is getting more column inches than Britney at the moment, and rightly so.

According to TG Daily its covered in "greenish-yellow plastic "skin." More than fifty servos, sensors and computers help control the robot's movements".

What we love about the Pleo is its AI, how a human interacts with it will determine the "emotions" the pleo displays. And even better, the operating system "Life Form OS" can be upgraded to allow more emotions via an SD card.

Pleo Rocks the Toy Fair

The new toy from the makers of the Furby is awesome. The Pleo is the most advanced toy robot we've ever seen and is designed to be as life-like as posbbile.

The 38 touch, light and sound sensors make this toy react to human contact and even ammends its "personality" in response to how it is treated.

We'll be adding more information as we get it.