Pleo

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Pleo is an animatronic 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, and is manufactured by Ugobe. 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 will "learn" from its experiences and environment through a sophisticated artificial intelligence and 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.

The robot is software-upgradeable via SD card or USB interfaces and costs $349 USD. Ugobe encourages user modifications of the robot's firmware, providing a graphical interface for home users called MySkit, and a forthcoming API for programmers called a "PDK." (Pleo Developers Kit).

In a 2008 test of various animatronic animal toys in Slate magazine, the Pleo was the only contestant which was considered a success, whereas the remaining models of earlier or competing developers were mainly considered unnatural, creepy or simply unconvincing.^[1]

[edit] Design

Pleo was engineered by a group of robotics specialists, animators, technologists, scientists, biologists, and programmers. The design combines sensory, articulation, and neuronetics to create a lifelike appearance with organic movement and adaptable behaviors.

In developing Pleo, Ugobe noted the biological and neurological systems of the Camarasaurus, and "re-interpreted" those elements through hardware and software.

[edit] Features

• camera-based vision system (for light detection and navigation)
• two microphones, binaural hearing
• beat detection (allows pleo to dance and listen to music) - this feature was removed but may be added on again.
• eight touch sensors (head, chin, shoulders, back, feet)
• four foot switches (surface detection)
• fourteen force-feedback sensors, one per joint
• orientation tilt sensor for body position
• infrared mouth sensor for object detection into mouth
• infrared transmit and receive for communication with other Pleos
• Mini-USB port for online downloads
• SD card slot for Pleo add-ons
• infrared detection for external objects
• 32-bit Atmel ARM 7 microprocessor (main processor for Pleo)
  • 32-bit NXP ARM 7 sub processor (camera system, audio input dedicated processor)
  • four 8-bit processors (low-level motor control)

[edit] Pleoworld crash

Beginning in Dec 2008, Pleoworld began to experience technical problems. By the holidays, Pleoworld was offline, including the user forums. After the holidays, both Pleoworld and Ugobe's official websites displayed updating website messages. Both sites returned sometime at the beginning of 2009. Since then, Pleoworld has not been updated, and Ugobe's official website has updated its board of directors listing. Ugobe stated that the problems were due to their company's relocation but has not explained why the user forums have not been restored.

WIRED.com reported the company's outlook is not good, and it is struggling to save itself from extinction as it tries to raise new funding and keep its pipeline of products alive.

Over the last six months, the company has seen a host of top management departures, including two CEOs, closed down its office in California, and pared down its marketing and PR staff in an attempt to weather the current economic storm. (This maybe the reason for Pleoworld's demise.) Emails to the company's media contact on the its website bounced back. Phone calls to its corporate office have not been answered.

In July, Ugobe CEO Bob Christopher stepped down and former CFO Liz Gasper retook the reins. Christopher said he left the company to move on to other ventures. Gasper has focused on cutting down the company's burn rate and finding new funding.

With the collapse of the credit environment, though, fund raising came to a halt. Meanwhile, the company's entire board of directors resigned before December, 2008, giving control of Ugobe back to the co-founders, said Swanson.

Ugobe also closed its Emeryville, California office and moved all operations to its other offices in Boise, Idaho. The company now has about 20 employees.

Last month, Gasper left the company, and original co-founder Caleb Chung found himself back in the hot seat. Chung did not respond to requests for an interview.

Ugobe still has a few robotic rabbits that it can pull out of its hat, says Swanson. The company is working on a pipeline of new products, including an update to the Pleo due later this year. And the company has begun "very definite engineering moves" for a product that will come out in 2009, Swanson says.

"Not only are we alive but we are busy," says Swanson.

Ugobe is expecting flat growth this year but the company will need to work hard to turn its business around.

It has become extremely difficult for new Pleo owners or existing members of the website to access the official forums and Plogs. In the wake of these problems, a loyal fan has setup a forum for members to join to talk Pleo, get the latest Pleo news, and download firmware updates for Pleo.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Pleoworld (Official Pleo website)
• Bob the Pleo forum (New un-official forum setup after the pleoworld crash)
• [1] (Official Pleo site for Italy)
• MyUgobe.com (unofficial fanBLOG)
• Wired.com (Ugobe Dinosaurs Battle for Survival WIRED.com)