Pleo the Dino

I'm talking about the Pleo, a robot dinosaur created by Emeryville-based Ugobe Inc. About the size of an adult cat, the toy has very realistic moves. It's got 15 key components including eight touch sensors in its head, chin, shoulders, back, and feet that respond to cuddling, tickling, and talking. It will even play tug-of-war with you, lift a leg to shake your hand, or fall asleep in your lap. Other robot toys in this genre include Sony's AIBO dog, Honda's humanoid Asimo, the talkative Furby, RoboSapien, and even a voice-activated The Pleo was modeled after a Camarasaurus, a late-Jurassic North American herbivore that grew to be 60 feet long. Thankfully Pleo doesn't get any larger. The dinosaur made its debut in 2006 but sales really didn't start taking off until last year when TV news shows started showing it off. Since that time, Pleo has gained a legion of 10,650 fans who swap stories online on a Web site called Pleoworld. The toys are shaking their heads and blinking their eyes -- pretty normal stuff for a robot toy. "If you treat him well, he'll be happy. If you don't treat him well, he'll let you know," said software manager Tyler Wilson in a promotion video.