Pleo Review - A Toy Robot Triumph? 112
SkinnyGuy writes "PCMag has one of the first reviews of the new robotic dinosaur. Is it worth $350? I think this reviewer thinks so. 'What most people will have a hard time understanding is that Ugobe's Pleo is one of the most sophisticated personal home entertainment robotic devices on the market today. It easily outshines robot toys from Wow Wee and Hasbro, though both companies offer robots that cost less than half of what Pleo does. Its nearest competitor, the Wow Wee Robopanda, is a good gift for young children, but it's not nearly as adorable, animated, or intelligent as Pleo. (Yes, it can stand up and crawl, but it doesn't look very good doing it.)'"
Pleo abuse (Score:5, Funny)
http://dvice.com/archives/2007/12/pleo_post.php?p=1&cat=undefined [dvice.com]
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And that is why (Score:3, Funny)
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Wow... (Score:2, Insightful)
See it in action (Score:4, Informative)
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Can't wait for Zeno (Score:4, Funny)
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robopanda (Score:3, Funny)
No remote controller needed
Realistic actions and interactive personality
Direct touch sensor and sound control
Interactive stories and games
Advanced artificial intelligence and awareness
Recognizes and talks to his own little toy panda (included)
Yes, that's right. It comes with its own little stuffed panda. In the video it hugs it. Christ, is that creepy.
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Dinosaur robot overlords... (Score:4, Funny)
yeah no doubt (Score:2)
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I hope you mean a giant astroid.
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Pointless (Score:3, Insightful)
However, these "robots" that we keep seeing are entirely pointless and ridiculous. They tend to be at least $300 or $400 and they're nothing more than slightly beefed up versions of the little remote control robot you got under the christmas tree as a little kid that beeped and flashed lights. They do nothing useful, are glitchy and . . . talk about "uncanny valley".
The Pleo seems like something that is briefly amusing, but for $350 I could buy a couple Roombas and they actually perform a useful function other than looking cute.
Are we supposed to be impressed by a goofy looking dino robot, just because it can detect when another pleo is around it and it can sense when someone is petting it versus choking it? How can this even qualify as a "robot"? If you have money to burn and your child is likely to be suckered into the cheap gimmicks that form these types of robots, then I guess go for it. . . . I've seen the pleo in action and if the idea is that you buy one or two of these to substitute for pets, then . . . well - let's just say having a pleo for a pet is like having blow up doll for a girlfriend. Not that I know from personal experience.
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AIBOs have seen their day but they got a lot more people "ready" for robots and from my experience like LEGO and VEX got a lot
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"A recent product has been the AIBO Recognition stick which will allow AIBO to recharge itself when it needs power by going over to the charging station (sold separately) and sit down to charge. When AIBO is charged, it will get up and wander around as normal. The new ERS-7 robots are taking the AIBO concept further and include extra sensors (electro-static sensors that do not require pushin
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We did have a Gemini robot which could find its charger, and IIRC Roombas do to. Should be easy.
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Exactly... (Score:2)
I'm so tired of these animatronic gizmos that are being called "robots".
Roomba is a robot. It does something useful.
A doll that can bleep, bloop or wiggle a bit when it hears a noise or bumps into something is not a robot.
None of this stuff seems much more impressive than the Big Trak ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigtrak [wikipedia.org] ) I had as a kid 30 years ago.
I am not impressed.
I haven't heard about the "roomba" (Score:1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRRLJ-v0KwM [youtube.com]
the whole thing kind of makes me nervous
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Best $350 box ever (Score:2, Funny)
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That's okay. The toy will also have more fun playing with the box than it will playing with your kid.
Well... (Score:2)
That at least provides some context to evaluate the claim that no one but lunatic fanboys will pay $400 for a Kindle because Amazon might go bankrupt some day.
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For a toy to be worth $350... (Score:2)
pet robot (Score:1)
That is the problem with robotics in general.... (Score:5, Insightful)
If you ask any robotics hobbyist, $350 USD for a completed and programmed robot.. well, that's a good price. I don't see the price point dropping much if you are going to have a really functional robotic toy thingy animal friend.
Warning: Some (well all) robotics hobbyists will value the store bought robotic toy on how useful it is once they get it home and disassemble it to use in their own creations. If it is a veritable horn of plenty of usable sensors and parts... yeah $350 is a great price. You may have to guide their scope on value in the conversation.
Re:That is the problem with robotics in general... (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd rather be able to buy a toy robot I can say "read me a bedtime story" than one that has realistic moods and realitic poops. I understand the popularity of the furby, but that was mostly to the toddler to pre-5th grade crowd. Not to mention the price point on the furby was pretty good too.
I think people want something that actually does something. If someone asks me what my pet robot does I cuold say "well he reads me a story if I ask. Or he reads me my email if I ask." Not "he simulates the moods of a biological pet." I think the tomogatchi school of robotics is pretty dead in the consumer world. The pleo is a nice gimmick, but thats all it is. At that price its a market failure from the get-go. I could get a roomba and a robopanda for that price.
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Are you planning to breed them? Brings a new twist to an od phrase - "Hey you two, get a roomba!"
Re:That is the problem with robotics in general... (Score:1, Troll)
What? is that supposed to be funny? More like stupid and sexist. Grow up.
Re:That is the problem with robotics in general... (Score:4, Funny)
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Having linked to that, I think you're taking this way, way too seriously and I would like to remind you that other people might laugh at things you don't find funny.
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(sorry...couldn't resist)
Re:That is the problem with robotics in general... (Score:4, Funny)
We just bought a rabbit, and in the first year of ownership I'm sure we'll spend more than $350. We got out of the pet store for ~$100 with a cage and a starter kit, then spent about another ~$100 on a couple months worth of bedding, food and treats. When you add on the the ~$150 we'll have to spend to neuter the thing, we're already at the price of the Pleo for less than a year of about the easiest-to-care for cuddleable pet you can get.
Even the Pleo won't be quite the same as a rabbit, but the Pleo won't pee under the piano. At least, the Pleo 1.0 won't pee under the piano.
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BTW, rabbits don't generally like being "cuddled", so you had better get its front teeth and rear claws removed too.
Some people should only be allowed robots, they don't know enough about real animals.
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Why do you want to neuter 1 rabbit ? Is there a local risk of rampant feral rabbits impregnating your pet ?
While I doubt our rabbit will be impregnating any of the local feral rabbit population, (and doubt even more that he'll become impregnated, since, you know, he's a dude) neutered rabbits won't mark their territory (AKA pee all over everything), are less likely to chew destructively, are generally more pleasant, and are likely to live longer. See the rabbit faq [rabbit.org].
BTW, rabbits don't generally like being "cuddled", so you had better get its front teeth and rear claws removed too.
As for the cuddling, I can only speak from personal experience. If we ignore our rabbit for too long while he's hopping around the living room, h
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Re:That is the problem with robotics in general... (Score:2)
Re:That is the problem with robotics in general... (Score:2)
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Pleo Review - A Toy Robot Triumph? (Score:5, Funny)
This was a triumph.
I'm making a note here: huge success.
I really can't express my satisfaction.
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>
> This was a triumph.
> I'm making a note here: huge success.
> I really can't express my satisfaction.
THE TRAINING LEAF IS A LIE!
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I'm being so sincere right now.~
(~ [slashdot.org])
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Get a Dog (Score:2, Informative)
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That's really not all that much better, and robots never require you to hold a warm bag of feces in your hand.
Cuter than that japanese robot baby abomination (Score:4, Informative)
Oblig. (Score:2, Funny)
Yawn (Score:2)
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http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=289 [irobot.com]
But does it run linux? (Score:3, Informative)
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Their 'development kit' ( well at least SOMEBODY read a little about them ) is an off the shelf scripting language where you can create new behaviors or modify exis
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"Pleo does have his USB port and an SD card to allow Pleo to be updated."
"In order to play with voice recognition you have to write it in C or assembly code. While possible, it won't be supported by the PDK tools at first, although we won't do anything to stop you. We want to get the controls in to let people to quickly be able to play with the sensors and motors, and
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But does it blend? (Score:2)
I'll wait (Score:2)
Pleo torture video (Score:2)
So when I watched this video of a couple of guys from Dvice torturing the Pleo and making it whimper pathetically, I felt uncomfortable, even though I knew it was absolutely ridiculous to feel that way.
My wife didn't want to watch the video. She said that even though the Pleo was incapable of feeling anything, watching the video is "bad for your psyche," and that the people who hit the Pleo were damaging their pscyhes, too.
I concur with one of the comments on dVice, that I'm rather in disbelief that the guys who made the video work for the SciFi channel, and yet passed up on an opportunity while choking the Pleo
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I like pleo (Score:2, Interesting)
To the 'is it useful' crowd... well it
How about a RoboCat? (Score:2)
There was a previous attempt at this in Japan about a decade ago called "NeCoRo", but it was one of th
Best line in the article ... (Score:2)
A bit inaccurate (Score:2)
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(I ask because obviously the first thing they would do with $300 is buy the kids XO laptops.)
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Brett
May as well mod this "pissy" (Score:2)
And I ran the office food drive this year; we brought in 1,230 lbs. of food.
And put $100 worth of toys in the office toy drive bin. I'm running that, too.
And I went in for a couple of those "Buy One, Give One" deals fr
Re: donations (Score:1)
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Brett
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Re:$350 toy? (Score:5, Funny)
Not if they chose to blow it all at once on a Pleo.
Well, I feel bad. (Score:2)
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It's quaint to see there are still people supporting the caste system. I bet you think monarchies are just SUPER!
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The reason few in power care about a real solution is that a stone-age economy hardly competes for resources with industrialized n