Pleo, a realistic robot toy by the creator of Furby

Its creator, Caleb Chung, was dubbed a “modern Gepetto” by Wired. He’s the creator of one of the most successful chip-driven toys ever, the Furby.

It uses 7 “brains” (Furby used two), 14 motors, and 38 sensors. It has a neural net to enable it to learn. It is self-aware.

It promises fluid, organic movement, and emotional responses. (“Smart enough to walk along a table, sense the edge and turn back with a whimper and the appropriate emotional body language.”)

It’s the first in a line of “designer life forms” from an ambitious company, Ugobe, that believes its toys will market themselves. (No distributor required.) A company with a mission to use AI, robots, and mechanical engineering to create affordable, sophisticated, lifelike robots.

Pleo debuts this Xmas at $200.

What kid wouldn’t want this toy? I know I do.

[via] Official release… (pdf)
See also: PC Mag on Pleo