2007 Archive

New Webisode: Inside the Ugobe Labs

From the archive: this is a preserved news post from the original Pleo Dinosaur! enthusiast blog, written as Pleo approached his 2007 launch. We keep it at its original address for the historical record.

Originally posted August 17, 2007.

There's a brand-new video for Pleo fans — the second in the company's series of short "webisodes." This two-minute installment pulls back the curtain and gives you a quick look at the team working day and night to put the finishing touches on Pleo before he ships.

A Tour With the Inventor

Your guide for the lab tour is Pleo's lead inventor, Caleb Chung, who introduces many of the people on the development team. It's a warm, human glimpse of the workshop where an "artificial life form" was being coaxed into existence — the kind of behind-the-scenes access that made fans feel personally invested in Pleo's arrival, and that put faces to the small crew betting everything on a green dinosaur.

Watch for the Red Ball

The best moment comes near the end. Keep your eyes open and you'll catch a member of the team testing Pleo's object-recognition capability with a small red ball — a quick, real demonstration of the sensing that helps Pleo react to the world around him. It's a lovely reminder that all of Pleo's charm rests on serious engineering, and that even a "magical" creature is, underneath, a carefully tested machine. Little unguarded glimpses like that ball test did as much for the fans' trust as any polished advertisement could.

The Power of the Webisodes

These short videos were smart marketing and something more: they built a relationship between Pleo and his future owners before he ever shipped. For the wider story of how Pleo won people over, see Pleo in the media, and dig into the technology on the specifications page.