Ugobe Pleo - New Life Form Robot
We are more used to seeing robots being developed like the NEC PaPeRo, but this Ugobe Pleo takes us to a different level. Meet the Pleo, or is it a real Camarasaurus back from Jurassic times.
To take a closer look check out this video footage of the Pleo in action, pretty impressive stuff.
The Ugobe Pleo has been designed and developed to learn and develop a personality of it’s own and adapt to the environment. The Pleo is being marketed as a toy and the retail price is expected to be around $200 so very much affordable. This 8 inch high robot is created to have at least a 3 year relationship with it’s owner but who’s to say that it will not turn into a life companion. The Pleo is packed full of 40 sensors and 14 servo motors to be able to produce the most realistic movement and reactions to different situations. It has pleasure, pressure, light and infra red sensors located in his body, and force feedback sensors on his toes and a potentiometer in his tummy.
Over time the Pleo will learn and is able to express real emotions such as joy, sorrow, agression and fear, as well as yawn, sign, sniff and sneeze. It will cry if it is scared, and when it gets tired it will fall asleep. Almost too real…until you realise that it has a battery life of 3 - 4 hours before it needs to go back to the regeneration bed for recharging. Expect to see these out in October/November time ready for Christmas!
March 17th, 2006 at 4:26 pm
This looks so cool, I want one! $200 also looks really cheap compared to things like Sony’s Aibo which is around £1000. There is another good video of the Pleo here
March 17th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
Watching the video footage is unbelievable. These are amazing…definately going to be on my Christmas list
March 25th, 2006 at 8:31 pm
These look amazing. Where will you be able to buy these from when they are released?
April 28th, 2006 at 12:03 am
OK, where’s a real demo. We see a Pleo that is just beginning his life. He stretches, sneezes, is set down near the edge of a table and looks over. He stops. He startles at being picked up. He dozes off. YAWN!!!
Does this snail’s pace gizmo ever get up speed? I know they have been training these beasties during development for long periods. Why can’t they show us one that has been around and trained for six months or so? I think this is just a glorified Furby. They said the same things about it. We learned later that it remembered nothing, learned nothing, and just had pre-programmed behavior turned on over time. Is Pleo just another example of smoke and mirrors toy merchandising?
April 28th, 2006 at 12:09 am
ADDENDUM: Will someone from the company send me email about a demo of a mature Pleo? Will they tell me what I will be able to do with my SD chip? Will they get on the Robot Store forum, Pleo section and answer the questions and issues posted there? Will they sample Pleo’s to reviewers so they can “train” one for a month or so, program some SDs and give us real reviews instead of echoes of press releases and public showings?