UGOBE Pleo Robotic Dinosaur Review

Apr 7 2008, 12:00am CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Today we are going to check out the Pleo robot dinosaur from UGOBE. This small robotic pet is designed to interact with its environment and the people around it. The little robot has been around for a while and if you have wondered what the Pleo was all about, this is the review for you.

Gallery

3 images

Benchmarks

Features & Specifications
The UGOBE Pleo is called the first designer life form. Pleo is modeled after a 1-week only long neck dinosaur and attempts to incorporate the basic traits of autonomous life and mimic organic movements. That’s is a complex way of saying the Pleo is a robot dinosaur that tries to fool you into thinking its real.

Pleo features over 40 sensors including infrared and stereophonic sound. The hallmark of the Pleo robot is that it can be updated with new firmware over time and evolves as it gets older. Pleo is aware of its environment and itself thanks to all the sensors.

The robot has 14 servo joints for its torso, head, tail, neck and legs. Pleo also has 38-touch, sound and tilt sensors on its mouth, hear, chest, shoulders, back and feet along with 8 toe sensors. Other features include music beat detection and autonomous interaction. Pleo also has different moods including anger, boredom, playfulness, hunting, cautious, cuddling, fatigue, hunger, and more. The Life Form OS and Personality System is updateable via an SD card expansion slot and the Pleo is powered by a rechargeable battery.

In Use
So how well does Pleo pull off mimicking life—surprisingly well. My kids though Pleo was the coolest thing ever and would play with it like a dog rather than a toy. They would call Pleo and it would turn towards their voice. The dinosaur would roam around the room and check things out. You can feed the Pleo its own little plastic leaf when its hungry and it makes sniffing sounds when you hold it up.

My daughter also found that Pleo would sniff her breakfast waffle and try to take the waffle into its mouth. This lead to her yelling at the dino to get away like it was a real animal, convinced it would eat her food.

I ended up with a pair of the Pleo robots in my home at once and they get more interesting when you have a pair. They would growl and make sounds at each other and nuzzle at each other as well. The myriad of sensors allows the Pleo to be petted and respond to touch. Pick the dino up and it will squeal or if it goes to sleep and you make a loud sound it will wake up as well.

Overall the Pleo robots were very fun and my kids loved them. The dino was treated like a family pet by my kids, a great example of exactly how well the Pleo is able to mimic a real animal. The only downside to the Pleo is the cost. At around $350 Pleo is an expensive toy.

Verdict

Conclusion

Pros

Mimics natural movement well
Very interactive
Good battery life

Cons

Expensive

Verdict
If you are looking for a way to get out of getting your kids a dog or cat, you might want to take a look at the Pleo. Pleo offers a very similar interactive experience for kids short of following them around, playing fetch and pooping on the rug.

9.0

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Shane McGlaun
Leading our review center, Shane knows technology inside out. His extensive experience in testing computer hardware and consumer electronics enable him to effectively qualify new products and trends. If you want us review your product, please contact Shane.
Shane can be contacted directly at shane@i4u.com.