[Above photo: courtesy of Perspective Branding]
Robert Oschler, of RobotsRule, tells Street Tech:
The Pleo pre-order date has been moved from February 3rd to sometime this spring. To make up for it, maker Ugobe is holding a contest to give away ten Pleos via an essay contest from those people signed up on Ugobe’s mailing list. You must be signed up by the contest start date of Febuary 3rd. The contest asks entrants to write a 250-word essay on “How do you envision robotic life forms influencing or touching your life in the next five years?“. Only the first 500 submissions will be accepted. Out of those, ten will be chosen based on the best answer to receive a free Pleo that will come with a personal note from Caleb Chung.
Pleo is being delayed due to upgrades like the following:
– It’s eyes are being redone to look as realistic and life like as possible.
– The skin is being refined to have features that are painted on to be replaced with sculpted details that will give the impression of muscle tissue under the skin.
– The number of sounds Pleo can make is being expanded on the speaker upgraded to make Pleo’s voice much more realistic.
– Finally, a chin sensor is being added so scratching Pleo under the chin gets an fun playful reaction.
People can learn more about Pleo at the RobotsRule Pleo Dinosaur page.