Best Inventions of 2006
It's been an interesting year in technology. Nintendo invented a video game you control with a magic wand. A new kind of car traveled 3,145 miles on a single gallon of gas. A robot learned to ride a bike and somebody came up with a nanofabric umbrella that doesn't stay wet
Lots of robot toys look like real animals, but they can't walk the walk. Pleo, which is modeled after a baby camarasaurus (a plant-eating dinosaur), aims to be more lifelike. When it walks, its whole body sways. It's equipped with more than three dozen touch, sound, light and tilt sensors, and it even has moods. Ignore Pleo, and it will get depressed and sleep all day. Give it some TLC, and it will wag its tail when you get home and purr like a cat. O.K., maybe it's confused about which animal it's supposed to be--but it's sure got (a mechanical) heart.
Inventor: Ugobe
Availability: 2007; $250
To learn more visit ugobe.com
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