下一個寵物時代是……恐龍世紀？

從當年的電子寵物雞到后來的Q寵、現在的多貓（更不必說那多如牛毛的養成游戲），日新月異的科技在我們的電腦及各種游戲平臺上不斷推出千奇百怪的虛擬寵物。你厭倦虛擬寵物了嗎？但又缺乏時間和精力照顧真動物？不如關注Pleo吧！今年年初，這只高智能的機器恐龍寶寶終于在國內全面登陸了哦！

It hails from[來自] the Jurassic[侏羅紀的] period， but there’s

nothing remotely prehistoric[史前的] about this robotic[機器人]

baby dinosaur[恐龍]. Even to call it a robot is somewhat misleading， say its American designers Ugobe Life Forms.

Pleo， a loveable one-week[-old] Camarasaurus[圓頂龍]

has something other robots don’t have – a personality.

And that， says Ugobe’s Martin Hitch， makes Pleo

different.

Hitch: A lot of the robots that we’ve seen before have been controlled by remote control， which gives the user a lot of command on what it does. Pleo is completely autonomous[自動的]. He’ll make his own decisions and he’ll decide what he’s gonna do and how he’s gonna react to how you interact[互動] with him.

Beneath his rubbery skin， Pleo is crammed[填滿] with clever technology. There’s close to 2，000 parts， more than 100 gears， 14 motors， and a complex sensory[感應的] network for detecting touch， and an infrared camera[紅外線攝像機]-based vision system. But the real magic that brings Pleo to life is the unit’s Life-Operating System.

Hitch: And that’s one of the main differences between robots we’ve seen on the marketplace to date and something like Pleo that seems very much alive. And it’s the Life-OS software that really helps him interact and…and react to the way that he’s treated.

A hackable operating system allowing others to create programs that can be downloaded directly into Pleo’s underbelly， via a USB port[端口] and a memory card slot[槽]. New programs are being developed that will enhance Pleo’s personality， including voice recognition.

The evolution[發展] of this new specie[s] of life-form robotics is still very much in its infancy[幼年]. The field has seen plenty of disappointments along the way. But it seems that， at last， a new generation of sentient[有感知的] robots is taking its first few baby steps toward a future where man’s best friend may not be his dog. Household pets， you’ve been warned.

這只機器恐龍寶寶來自侏羅紀，但它身上其實沒有任何遠古史前的東西。據其美國設計商優酷比（Ugobe）生命形態公司說，連把它稱為機器人都有誤導之嫌。

Pleo是一只可愛的圓頂龍，出生才一個星期，擁有其它機器人沒有的特點——個性。優酷比公司的馬丁·希契認為，正是這一點使Pleo與眾不同。

希契：我們之前見過的機器人大多都是受遙控的，用戶需要通過很多指令來操縱其活動。Pleo卻是全自動的。它會自己拿主意，決定自己要做什么，還會根據你如何與它互動來決定如何回應。

在橡膠皮膚下面， Pleo是充滿智慧的科技結晶。它身上有近2000個零件、100多個傳動裝置、14個馬達、一套復雜的傳感網絡（用于檢測觸覺），和一個帶紅外線攝像裝置的視覺系統。但是，真正使Pleo煥發生命魔力的關鍵在于其部件的“生命操作系統”。

希契：而那就是目前在市面上見到的機器人和栩栩如生的Pleo之間的重要差別之一。“生命操作系統”軟件能真正幫助它進行互動，以及……讓它根據自己受到的對待作出反應。