3 ms·

This has got to be a scam. 1) The KS video is completely gimmiky 2) The voice of the bear is (as pointed out by akandiah) completely non-child friendly. 3) The

This has got to be a scam. 1) The KS video is completely gimmiky 2) The voice of the bear is (as pointed out by akandiah) completely non-child friendly. 3) They're claiming they can get this tech to market for 99 pounds a piece, yet don't divulge any real technical information at all. 4) I'm not even convinced the talking in the video was genuine. I really hope I'm wrong, but if I'm not, I really hope the KS staff catch this one in the bud.

ctz 13y ago
I don't think $99 as a price point for a bear with an single DOF animitronic mouth and some dumb control hardware is unreasonable.
- chiph 13y ago
  Agreed. Teddy Ruxpin cost more (even in 1980's dollars) because it had eyes that moved as well as the mouth. Plus it had (depending on version) a cassette tape player or a digital cartridge player in it, instead of using an existing smartphone.
donpdonp 13y ago
The video is very misleading. The concepts and timing and inflections in the videos conversation are light years beyond what I've seen with off the shelf smartphones and software. I imagine the actual doll will be no better at conversations than Siri is, which is not a conversation at all. I dont think it has to be a scam - it could be essentially a bluetooth headset that provides a microphone and speaker in teddybear form, with some extra motors to actuate the mouth when playing audio. The idea of a supertoy is exciting as presented in the film "AI".
DanBC 13y ago
It's Teddy Ruxpin, but instead of "reading" cassette tapes it has a space for a smartphone. The (user supplier) smart phone does all the work. Except, even then, chatbots are hopeless and even Siri is often weird and sub-optimal. I get terrible results from normal questions. I speak with children. They have wondrous, amazing, confusing, marvelous, off-the-wall ideas. If anything can make a computer fail a Turing Test it's the questions of a child.

ctz 13y ago

I don't think $99 as a price point for a bear with an single DOF animitronic mouth and some dumb control hardware is unreasonable.

chiph 13y ago
Agreed. Teddy Ruxpin cost more (even in 1980's dollars) because it had eyes that moved as well as the mouth. Plus it had (depending on version) a cassette tape player or a digital cartridge player in it, instead of using an existing smartphone.

donpdonp 13y ago

The video is very misleading. The concepts and timing and inflections in the videos conversation are light years beyond what I've seen with off the shelf smartphones and software. I imagine the actual doll will be no better at conversations than Siri is, which is not a conversation at all. I dont think it has to be a scam - it could be essentially a bluetooth headset that provides a microphone and speaker in teddybear form, with some extra motors to actuate the mouth when playing audio. The idea of a supertoy is exciting as presented in the film "AI".

DanBC 13y ago

It's Teddy Ruxpin, but instead of "reading" cassette tapes it has a space for a smartphone. The (user supplier) smart phone does all the work. Except, even then, chatbots are hopeless and even Siri is often weird and sub-optimal. I get terrible results from normal questions. I speak with children. They have wondrous, amazing, confusing, marvelous, off-the-wall ideas. If anything can make a computer fail a Turing Test it's the questions of a child.