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[PleoKymm]

Last night, I had an unusual dream. I had a Pleo, and was taking him to an amusement park. The park was themed to look like a prehistoric jungle, and there were rides everywhere. Upon closer inspection, there were different types of rides. There were big thrill rides for people, tiny versions for Pleos, and gentle rides they could go on together. The place was a Pleo Park! Cool, huh? Maybe I should write a story about this prehistoric fun-land.

[Torterenek]

That is way awesome! You sould. Maybe you could also try sending the park idea to someone sometime.

[RickyD1979]

a park for Pleos, sounds awesome!!

[Talon]

Hahaha! Why not? Japan used to have entire stadiums full of people waching Aibos play soccer games. Thailand has a sort of daycare thinggy for RB's. Why not a pleo park?
Talon

[Kami]

Definitely something I could see being done in Japan. If Pleo/similar robots became popular enough that people started having convention-style meetups (and I guess there are already meetups here and there), you could even have miniature Pleo Park-style things set up at those.

I like the idea of writing stories about it, too. In my not-so-past life I used to write fan fiction for fun, often about things that weren't of much interest to anyone other than me! I've been half-heartedly looking around for something that excites me enough to write about now, because it's good fun and good stress relief to produce something that's 'just for entertainment'.

[Talon]

Really, Kami? I could have something right up your alley. I have a pleo-story I started but I've had so much going on in my life I've had to put it aside. If you want to help or if you just want to prime your inner fantasy-writer, you could swing buy and take a look at it. I think it's in the pleo cafe. Just go to the search box and type in pleo-story and you should be able to find it. I remember asking Mweed to resurrect it forever and five years ago when I added my last installment. It's probably furry with dust by now. Lol! This could be fun for both of us.
Talon

[Kami]

That's awesome. I realised as I was posting earlier that there had to be at least one person here who'd written their own story. I think I'll definitely have to check that out.

[Lunamione7]

Definitely something I could see being done in Japan. If Pleo/similar robots became popular enough that people started having convention-style meetups (and I guess there are already meetups here and there), you could even have miniature Pleo Park-style things set up at those.

In Aibo's hayday there were conventions all the time, hosted by Sony or fans. Loads of people used to attend them and there are pictures if you hunt around. SAAG (an Aibo gathering) has been running every year for the past 12 years I think and there is an Aibo/Pleo meeting organised for Perth, Australia this April. Several 'Bob the Pleo' members including myself are attending 

[RickyD1979]

Thats awesome, wish we could have that in South Africa 

[Talon]

I feel your pain. It's just most of us are so isolated from one another it's really hard to get stuff organized. Who knows, RickyD? You could be the one to start something and open up the world of consumer robotics to South Africa. I feel like I'm a trail-blazer for the blind as I am one of very few totally blind people taking part in this hobby. It's a foolish idea, but I hope one day that I might meet up with the right person and because of the knowledge I've gained here I might get to help with a prototype robot to live in the home of a disabled person. By then- I hope- I might be able to guide software developers to create platforms that will work with screenreaders to integrate more easily with the programs produced for these robots. Wow that was a long sentence and I hope it made sense! Just a big lofty dream that probably won't happen considering my educational background is English and not robotics. Lol!
Talon

[RickyD1979]

Think Im going to do just that

[Kami]

In Aibo's hayday there were conventions all the time, hosted by Sony or fans. Loads of people used to attend them and there are pictures if you hunt around. SAAG (an Aibo gathering) has been running every year for the past 12 years I think and there is an Aibo/Pleo meeting organised for Perth, Australia this April. Several 'Bob the Pleo' members including myself are attending 

Wish I could turn up as well! Unfortunately being in Tasmania makes it non-trivial for me to be anywhere else, even if I am tantalisingly close.

By then- I hope- I might be able to guide software developers to create platforms that will work with screenreaders to integrate more easily with the programs produced for these robots. Wow that was a long sentence and I hope it made sense! Just a big lofty dream that probably won't happen considering my educational background is English and not robotics. Lol!

Well, my dark secret is that I'm actually a languages/philosophy major person who has forced worked hard to force myself into the computing field because I'm really passionate about computers and what they can do for people. I felt like an imposter for the longest time though - I just looked at things so differently, and being a female in a male-dominated field probably didn't help with that. I remember quite clearly though the point in my computing degree when I suddenly realised that my strong background in English was something these people needed, even if they didn't realise it, because I can actually write understandable documentation and communicate things to others in a way that they have half a chance of understanding. And a lot of technology people now do realise that those alternate perspectives are valuable. It's quite normal for tech people to work with artists, writers, people with ties to various communities with unique requirements, all sorts of people for whom the technology side of things is a 'second language' but who are better at communicating what's needed by people or seeing things in a new way. So chase that dream - I'd say especially given you have experience with Aibo and Pleo you'd have a lot of value in making those things happen.

I always think though that people can't be too surprised to hear English used to be my thing when I was a kid, because I have so much trouble writing posts online that are short.