Like all other day, I dress up like attending a funeral thus set me in place with apiit regulation of professional code of conduct. Went up to the lab, finish off my references and bibliography before I hand in; after 1 month not stepping in to Apiit, I kind of missed Apiit in the sense of not bumping in to anyone that I know; did not see Calvin hogging a space in the syndicate room, did not see Dr. Rama evil grin when he is in the elevator, and not seeing any sarc booth around.
Quickly finish up my assignment for printing and binding, I submit my work off and declare my self the beginning of my month-long break. Walking down to the foyer, I saw a bunch of guys hogging at a Pleo booth. Pleo reminds me of my Samsung Pleo keyboard, the keyboard with an additional three functions to lock, sleep and shutdown my computer; with ubuntu, i add in a few more shortcuts to the keyboard with show desktop, run terminal, launch browser, launch calculator, mute volume, decrease/increase volume, switch desktop. Some kind of cool I think.
The new Pleo that i see was not of new keyboards, but more of a pet.
Pleo, a robot dino that somehow survive The Land Before Time
Pleo stand at 7.5in high and 21 in long and weight at 3.5 pound. The first look that you will have upon seeing Pleo is "wtf, that looks stupid", but the true fact was, Pleo is actually smart for a baby dino. It does not need to hatch from the egg, it does not need to feed on plants, it does not need to be watch over like a child but it definitely need its battery to be recharged on low power.
Pleo is build with over 40 sensors which enables it to act like a dino such as see, hear and feel. Pleo has the ability to see and it will later be upgrade to a face identification module which enables it to recognize its master.
Just like all the pets, none of the likes to be drag by the tail, same goes to Pleo, when being drag up by its tail, Pleo gets angry and will make noise while it stares at you. Pleo likes to be pampered as well, rubbing it from head to tail makes Pleo acts like a cat.
Pleo is unique in its way that it actually respond to its master as it is able to learn from time to time. Yet it fails to attract me in a couple of ways:
Pleo is unable to turn itself over when it falls sideways.
Pleo cannot stand on two legs.
Pleo makes me sleepy when I stare at it.
Pleo is not aggressive, my mojo will bit me if I provoke him from his dreams.
Given all these disadvantages, Pleo actually makes a good toy for the children from age 8 and above, since it is selling at MYR 1,699; its suitable as a pet for the kids as it is good with "No bite, No fur, No food".
Hmn.. wonder if I should get a new pet... but it will not be Pleo.
More:
Video clips of Pleo
Pleo meets dog @ Gizmodo.com
Pleo reflects @ Robotsrule.com
