He’s cute, he’s lovable, and he thrives on human attention. Meet Pleo, the life-like robot who captures your heart and is now available in Australia.
Modelled on a one-week old Camarasauras, Pleo is an advanced robotic dinosaur based on a revolutionary platform of tools and technologies that deliver evolving, unpredictable behaviours to surprise, endear and delight.
Every Pleo begins life as a newly hatched baby. When he opens his eyes for the first time, he will slowly adjust to his environment, blinking his eyes and stretching his limbs. Gradually, with more human interaction and encouragement, Pleo becomes more inquisitive, playful and lively, showing off new behaviours every day.
Tickle his chin and he will gurgle in delight. Stroke him from head to tail, and he will happily arch his back. Place Pleo’s leaf in his mouth to see what mood he’s in. If he’s hungry, he’ll chomp the leaf. If he’s not, he may call out for a play instead. He may even offer his paw for you to shake. Over time and with human nurturing, Pleo grows from a hatchling to an infant, and finally to a juvenile, growing in confidence and personality.
This unique robotic companion was created by UGOBETM, a company focussed on blending engineering, life sciences and design to transform inanimate objects into lifelike creatures. UGOBETM co-founder Caleb Chung, the creator of the Furby, the world’s first successful domestically-aimed autonomous robot, is the mind behind Pleo.
The heart of Pleo is its patented open-source LIFE Operating System (OS), a complex software platform that enables Pleo’s mechanical, electronic, sensory, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems to interact as a lifelike whole.
A look inside Pleo reveals more than 38 sound, light, tilt and touch sensors, 14 motors, more than 100 customised gears for movement, two 32-bit microprocessors for central and image processing, and four 8-bit subprocessors for motor control. An infra-red and camera-based vision system allows Pleo to detect objects and colours.
Pleo is capable of hundreds of emotions and behaviours, from being playful and lively, to showing sadness and fright, laying down, cuddling, coughing, giggling, singing and balancing on two legs.
When you’re ready to take Pleo to the next stage of his evolution, you can download new behaviour and personality traits from www.pleoworld.com (new software can be copied via an SD card or a USB cable with a Macintosh or Windows automated updater utility). An upgrade will not change your Pleo’s personality – it will just give him more ways to express it!
UGOBETM encourages developers to create new and interesting personality traits for its Open Source LIFE OS software platform, to assist Pleo continue his evolution.
Price and availability
Pleo is now available in Australia through Next Technologies www.nexttech.com.au and selected Harvey Norman and Domayne stores, with a price of $449 RRP. You can also purchase an additional Pleo Battery Pack for A$49 to keep Pleo continuously on the go.
Source: NextTechnologies
