Will Pleo dazzle the market?

Sony is called an infinitely cute Aibo after the retirement of his robot dog the question rightly arose as to who or what would take the place of the faithful pet in the robot market. The answer did not expect much for itself.

The Japanese company Ugobe announced that it will launch its robot dino "Pleo" on the market in 2006. The new "future" looks like he just stepped out of a Pixar animated film with his stubby legs, funny eyes and slightly clumsy body compared to "Aibo". Although the company wants to sell its new product on the toy market, the little dinosaur has been equipped with a serious amount of hi-tech wonders. Under the soft polymer-based skin of "Pleo" we find dozens of infrared sensors, with the help of which it can avoid landmarks in its path. The movement of the small structure is made possible by a 16-bit processor and several 8-bit chips, as well as 16 servo motors and 40 sensors. Perhaps the biggest novelty is that Pleo already has the so-called "organic movement" function, with the help of which it can behave like a living organism: if, for example, our "house dinosaur" falls asleep, its facial expressions will change and it will move much more slowly than when it is awake. .

Pleo will certainly hit store shelves later this year. However, it is questionable how much success its cute but unusual shape in the robot market will bring to customers.