'pleo' is based on a real dinosaur baby called a camarasaurus
(due to their relatively large skulls and bodies which allow its
electronic innards to be hidden) and will grow and learn
throughout its life. after its initial 'hatchling' phase and infancy
period, pleo enters 'puppy' mode where it is most responsive to
learning new behaviors. a few weeks later pleo becomes an
adolescent, during which time it will howl at the sky and sniff the
air (perhaps now would be a good time to find pleo a companion).
after this stage pleo will reach maturity, its voice drops and its
personality is now defined.

although marketed as a toy, pleo's sophisticated technology has
attracted much more attention from older markets, especially robot
enthusiasts (encouraged by the ability to 'hack' and modify pleo's
behavior). its soft-polymer-skin will wear in relation to how pleo
is stroked as well as hiding its high tech modesty. pressure
sensors around pleo's body allow it to sense when and where it
is being touched and accelerometers tell pleo its orientation
allowing it to respond accordingly. force feedback sensors alert
pleo to trauma (for example a hard pull to its leg) and it will react
in suitable pain, even developing a limp if sufficiently injured, its
recovery time dependent upon how well he is nurtured back to
fitness. binaural microphones let pleo pinpoint the origin of sounds
while a head mounted camera allows it to track movement and
detect light or dark. an infrared transmitter and receiver lets pleos
detect and communicate with each other and sense when an
object is presented to its mouth. finally, speakers at the front and
rear of pleo allows it to vocalize its character and produce the
type of sounds you would expect from an organic life form.

what sets pleo apart from other electronic pets is that despite all
this hi-tech gadgetry (or more accurately thanks to), pleo
demonstrates a surprising amount of personality, awareness and
emotion.

on the eve of pleo's birth, now seems like a good time to look back
at the evolution of this unique genre of product and how they
became so popular.

the first electronic pet was the 'petster' series of toys available in
the mid-1980's. petster was a soft toy that featured
pre-programmed games, responded to simple clap commands
(one clap = come here, two claps = go away) and also
incorporated a 'go play mode' where the petster
is free to run around the room, giving the illusion of self
automation. most petsters were based on a two wheeled
platform utilizing microphones to respond to commands,
covered by a soft, plush outer covering. petster was developed
by avalon who also produced a range of interactive toys and
programmable robots throughout the 80's. although restricted by
the technology available at the time, these first electronic pets
demonstrated a new market and, perhaps more importantly, a
breed of designers, inventors and engineers with a passion to
make life-like, interactive pets a reality that would lead the
development of the industry.

the next major development in electronic pets introduced the
world to a new children's phenomena. between 1996 and 2007,
some 37 variations of the original tamagotchi have been released,
the toy which introduced the masses to the concept of digital pets,
along with a slew of clones and imitators. the tamagotchi was
invented by a japanese housewife called aki maita who then
licensed the idea to bandai. tamagotchi fast became a world-wide
hit, with over 40 millions units sold in over 30 countries and nearly
400 licensed products like t-shirts, hats, stuffed animals, portable
phones and more. the demand for them was so great that even
with bandai manufacturing at full capacity they still could not meet
the demand leading to a flourishing underground market where
some tamagotchis sold for as much as fifty times their retail value.

while the concept of a virtual pet had been realized the year
before in the popular computer game 'dogz' (and then
subsequently 'catz' and 'petz'), the tamagotchi was the first
electronic pet that could be taken anywhere and its development
was dependent upon it receiving the correct nurturing when it
demanded. tamagotchis demonstrated automation, they demanded
food when needed, required exercise, pooped when necessary,
communicated with bleeps and through their image on an lcd
screen they could display emotions.

riding on the success of the tamagotchi came the ‘furby’ in 1998
as the next must have toy. in the three years producing the
original model, toy company tiger electronics sold over 40 million
furbys [sic] and its speaking capabilities were translated into 24
languages. the brain child of dave hampton and caleb chung,
who would later go on to create pleo, it was the first successful
attempt to produce and sell a domestic robot.

furbys are small, cuddly-toy robots, most closely resembling an
owl. they featured four sensors that detected light, touch and
sound and could talk and display emotions through their
automated eyes and beak. when furbys are born they
communicate only with their furbish language of ‘a-loh’s and
‘boh-bay’s but as the owner talks to it and nurtures it, it begins to
understand and continues to learn as it grows through its four
stages of development. while the furbys’ true language skills were
far less impressive than they appeared to a child, their physical
form and emotive expressions and voice meant that owners
forged strong bonds with their mechanical pets.

in 1999 sony introduced its revolutionary electronic dog, aibo,
billed as ‘an autonomous robot that acts both in response to
external stimuli and according to its own judgement.'

the advanced artificial intelligence of aibo equipped it with the
capability of adaptive learning and the ability to grow and develop
a unique personality shaped by its owner. it incorporated emotions
of happiness and anger and instincts such as the need for
companionship, acting autonomously in response to them and the
environment. it also featured by far the most sophisticated and
animated movement of a commercial robot yet, further enhancing
its 'character'. aibo evolved through 5 different incarnations, each
model gaining improved features such as voice and face recognition,
improved sensor functionality and wi-fi internet connectability. in
the third quarter of 2005 sony announced that it was to close its
production and development of aibo as part of its financial
restructuring strategy, leaving a loyal hardcore of passionate aibo
lovers devastated.

when the aibo was first released, it was surprising to many that
owners bonded with their electronic pet in a very similar way to
how they would with a real pet cat or dog. while many owners
rationalized that aibo did not feel real emotion, over time they still
imbued it with a personality, demonstrating a seemingly hard-wired
aspect of human nature to protect and nurture creatures, even
artificial ones. this instinct appeared to be so strong that even
owners of newly developed robotic vacuum cleaners, such as
the 'roomba' and 'trilobite', also acquired similar feelings. this
showed that it is our perception of a robot's independent thoughts
and actions that we respond to rather than merely cute features
such as eyes and a tail.

scientific studies on this robot-man relationship revealed that adults
who spent time with aibo experienced less stress, elevated moods
and decreased depression, the same benefits associated with
owning a real pet. in japan, one of the oldest populations in the
world, this was a significant development as they believed that
robotic companions could be used to reduce some of the
increasing burden that caring for the elderly placed on society.
japan's national institute of advanced industrial science and
technology invested $10 million in developing 'paro', a robotic seal
designed to be a companion for the sick and elderly. along with
the previously identified benefits, researchers also found that
paro encouraged communication and social behavior between
subjects and that the brain activity of patients with dementia
increased 50 percent after just 20 minutes with paro.

not all saw these new therapeutic relationships as beneficial,
some doctors and researchers believed that they could be
potentially damaging. one commentator asked: 'what can
something that does not have a life cycle know about your death,
or about your pain?' it was also suggested that substituting a
child's genuine relationships with humans and animals with these
electronic, pseudo-emotional relationships could have significant
effects on a their emotional and moral development.

in the wake of aibo many more robots appeared in seemingly
every animal form possible. robosapian, i-sobot, roboquad,
furreal... the market became divided between autonomous robots
and remote controlled robots but none matched the sophistication
(or cost) of aibo. one of the least successful attempts to emulate
aibo's success was 'my real baby' featuring high tech
animatronics and emotional response software. it was clear that
trying to recreate human or animal forms and actions too closely
only highlighted its inadequacies and faux emotions.

has pleo learned the lessons of its predecessors and struck the
right balance of reality and robot to make it the next must have
toy for both children and adults? and as the technology inevitably
becomes smaller and more affordable are our future generations
of mp3 players and other mobile companions going to exhibit a
life of their own?





visit pleo world to see him in action