What is a Pleo?

In the words of its manufacturer, UGOBE, "Pleo is an autonomous robotic life form modeled on a one-week-old Camarasaurus dinosaur. Pleo is designed to mimic life which means Pleo thinks and acts independently, just like a real animal."

Well, what does that mean?

Plainly put, pleo is a robot dinosaur.

As a dinosaur, pleo is designed to closely resemble and mimic a baby camarasaurus. The Camarasaurus is the best-known sauropod found in North America and the most abundant of fossils from the Late Jurassic period. Camarasaurus was a "long-neck" plant eater of the same type as the brontosaurus.

As a robot, pleo has two 32-bit processors similar to what you would find in a cell phone or PDA, a color camera, infrared transmitter and sensors, stereo microphones, touch sensors, tilt and shake sensors, ground sensors, force feedback sensors, head and rear speakers, USB port, and SD card slot, just to name a few things. What makes pleo special, though, is the software. At the heart of Pleo is UGOBE's Life OS™, the operating system software that enables Pleo to act independently and will evolve Pleo's personality according to his interactions with you and the environment.

But what does all that mean?

In general, pleo looks, moves, and behaves in ways that trigger a "belief of life." Specifically, Pleo has organic body language, exhibits evolving emotions, is aware of his surroundings and has recognizable behaviors that change over time. Pleo does not have a remote control. You interact with Pleo but you cannot control his movements.

Simply put, he's just cute.

For a more detailed explanation of pleo, you can visit Ugobe's site and see their FAQ page and their Discovery page.

O.K., Where can I get one?

Pleo can be purchased from many places across the internet, including Ugobe (the manufacturer), Target, Sharper Image, Best Buy, Hammacher Schlemmer, and Amazon. Most places list pleo at $350. One nice thing about Hammacher Schlemmer is their lifetime warranty. Amazon is usually the cheapest. If you do decide to buy through Amazon, please use the link above as it does get me a few bucks in commission . . .