New Robotic Dinosaur Qualifies As An Artificial Life Form

Although many gadgets are useful in some way or another, most gadgets- on some level or another- are really just toys. In fact, there are a lot of technological gadgets that were designed and are primarily used as toys. Artificial life forms are one example of this. There have been a variety of artificial life forms on the market ranging from free software that imitates the way life forms evolve to commercial products like Gigapets and the Furby.

Now, we can expect an artificial life form type toy that promises to surpass all previous attempts to make robotic toys that are realistic. This product is made by the same company that introduced the Furby and is modeled after a baby dinosaur. The product is called Pleo and realism of both movement and behavior was the goal in its creation.

One of the ways that the Pleo imitates actual life forms is by going through various stages of development, and over the course of its early "life" the Pleo learns from the experiences that it's exposed to and develops a personality. When a Pleo is first turned on, it enters a stage of infancy called the "hatchling" phase. After the brief "Hatching" phase, the Pleo enters its "Puppy" stage. The "Puppy" stage of the Pleo's life is when it can most easily learn new behaviors. For example, if the robot performs some behavior and then gets "fed" by its owner, the Pleo will learn to repeat that behavior in order to be fed. During the "Puppy" phase, the personality of the Pleo can also be shaped in deeper ways. For example, if its treated roughly in its Puppy phase, a Pleo might develop a bi-polar personality or grow to be an angry adult. Once the Puppy phase has passed, Pleo enters a brief adolescence during which time it raises its snout and howls occasionally. Then, after the adolescent phase is over, the Pleo's voice drops and it becomes an adult. The adult phase of a Pleo is hallmarked by a relatively fixed set of behaviors and personality.

The Pleo has some interesting software that makes it appear to be alive, and thanks to a series of sensors over its body, the Pleo actually is aware of things that happen in its environment. For example, if you touch part of its body, the Pleo will look to see what's going on there. If you drape something over it, the Pleo will appear confused and try to shake it off. It also has programming built in so that if it isn't sure what kind of behavior is appropriate for a given stimulus, it will just randomly perform one of its predefined behaviors. That's one of the features that keeps it from being completely predictable and if it's unpredictable, the Pleo seems more lifelike.

There are several things that make the Pleo definitely unlike a living thing. For example, if you don't like the way your adult Pleo turned out, you have the option of "rebooting" it back to its "Hatchling" phase and starting over again. In someways this creates a disturbing precedent. After all, if artificial life forms become more like real life forms, but they can still be rebooted, it may become easy to think that it's okay to abuse real living things because they can always be rebooted later, and the harm that was done to them simply erased.

Regardless of the consequences of having machines around that imitate living things, we can be sure to see increasingly realistic artificial life forms in the future.

Will Webkinz Popularity Descend?

Webkinz are still the hottest toy of the year and that can leave many wondering; will this toy ever come down off the mountain? We folks the good news is I don't see it coming down anytime soon as webkinz continue to reign supreme they look as though they will stay the course at least until the next big thing comes along.

However with the way Ganz has been releasing webkinz burnout is a long way off. The reason being that every single webkinz release becomes hyped due to market popularity. The only way for the hype not to be there is that something comes long to challenge the webkinz hype. Pleo the Robot Life Form Dinosaur will be out this fall and that may challenge it somewhat. The only problem laying that the price tag for a Pleo is $349.

Well worth it but for many families just not practical. Even beyond the price range is the fact that Ugobe the makers of PLEO are only releasing limited quantities in 2007 and will extend it in 2008 but not in time to end a craze on Webkinz. Webkinz next biggest challenger will be this fall with the release of Sesame Streets' TMX Friends, TMX Ernie and TMX Cookie Monster. These two new plush are the follow up to the popular TMX Elmo released last year. Still webkinz are more interactive and also feature an internet based population that appeals to the youth. Webkinz biggest influence is also on the pre teens around 10-12. While TMX Friends falls slightly younger at 5-8.

So with those facts alone webkinz will end the year on top and look to hold the crown for 07' and the same will hold true for 2008. So rest assured parents that the hype won't die soon which means more longevity out of spending the $15-$30 for your child's favorite toy.