Welcome, and on this video we are doing product review for the Pleo Robotic Dinosaur, design by Caleb Chung! So if you want to learn more about this interactive pet from prehistoric times, then please stay tuned!
Hi Guys, I’m Philip English from robophil.com, now on this video we are looking at the Caleb Chung designed, Pleo Robotic Dinosaur! PLEO is an animatronic pet dinosaur toy designed to emulate the appearance and (imagined) behavior of a week-old baby Camarasaurus.
It was designed by Caleb Chung, the co-creator of the Furby, Chung’s company Ugobe first sold Pleo and was manufactured by Jetta Company Limited.
Chung selected this species of dinosaur because its body shape, stocky head, and relatively large cranium made it ideal for concealing the sensors and motors needed for lifelike animation. According to Ugobe, each Pleo would “learn” from its experiences and environment through a sophisticated artificial intelligence and develop an develop an individual personality.
PLEO was unveiled on February 7, 2006 at the DEMO Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona and was expected to come on the Indian and American markets around Fall 2007. PLEO shipments started on December 5, 2007. Unfortunatley though, In April 2009, Ugobe laid off all of its employees and filed for bankruptcy. On June 8, 2009 Jetta Company Limited (the original PLEO manufacturer) announced it is re-launching Pleo and are continuing the line including accessories such as the vital battery and battery charger components.
Since 14 July 2009, PLEO is owned by Innvo Labs Corporations (a division of Jetta). Innvo Labs decided to support the Ugobe PLEO owners and is continuing to expand the PLEO line including extra accessories .
In December 2011, the second generation, PLEO rb, was first launched in America, Europe and Hong Kong where Innvo Labs headquarter locates.
To run through the features of Pleo:
- Camera-based vision system (for light detection and navigation)
- Two microphones, binaural hearing
- Beat detection (allows pleo to dance and listen to music).
- Twelve touch sensors (head, chin, shoulders, back, feet)
- Four ground foot sensors (surface detection)
- Fourteen force-feedback sensors, one per joint
- Orientation tilt sensor for body position
- Infrared mouth sensor for object detection into mouth
- Two-way infrared communication with other Pleos
- Infrared detection for external objects
- 32-bit Atmel ARM7 microprocessor (main processor for Pleo)
- 32-bit NXP Semiconductors ARM7 sub-processor (camera system, dedicated audio input processor)
- Four 8-bit processors (low-level motor control)
In December 2011, the latest iteration, the PLEO rb (Standing for ReBorn), was invented and released. PLEO rb is similar to the original PLEO. However, no two units are exactly alike: each PLEO rb comes with randomly selected eyeball, eyelid and eye-shadow colours. The skin is always a slightly different hue of green. A special line of pink or blue PLEO rb were released in late 2012. PLEO rb has more senses than the original.
The enhancements include:
1. Eyes: It can now recognise colors and patterns; it can also detect drop-offs so it steps back from the risk of falling.
2. Ears: It can hear, and will turn towards the source. Owners can name it and teach it verbal commands using “learning stones”.
3. Nose and mouth: It can sense what kind of “food” or “medicine” owners are feeding and then it will choose to eat or not according to its simulated needs and wants.
4. Skin: It can sense the temperature of its surroundings and react accordingly; it can sense whether it is being petted or hit and react to touch.
5. Time: It can recognize the time to wake up, eat and sleep.
There are altogether 9 new kinds of food and medicine items made for PLEO rb in different health and life situations and 7 new “learning stones”: these can teach PLEO rb how to bow, dance, sign, walk towards their owner, play games, etc.
PLEO rb is designed to behave like a life-form, with 4 distinct life stages. When unboxed, it behaves like a newborn and needs to be “hatched” and brought up. With proper care, it will “grow up” into a juvenile after about two days. It starts to stand and walk smoothly during its teenage stage, and can then be taught to recognize its name. As owners continue to teach verbal commands, it will get to the mature stage and all features will be fully enabled.
Thanks Guys, I hope you enjoyed the overview of the Pleo Robotic Dinosaur designed by Caleb Chung!
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Pleo Robotic Dinosaur: https://www.pleoworld.com/
Pleo Robotic Dinosaur Product Review YouTube: https://youtu.be/GVxUjbrfFaI
Philip English: https://philipenglish.com
Sponsor: Robot Center: http://www.robotcenter.co.uk
