ToyFair2015
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Interactive Barbie is your kids' future BFF
Oh. Em. Gee. Mattel is developing a new talking Barbie, and this time, the company's not programming it with silly canned phrases. Nope, Mattel's working on an actual interactive model called "Hello Barbie" that kids (and adults) can talk to, sort of like Siri and Cortana -- but in doll form with long, luxurious blonde hair. Girl friend's loaded with ToyTalk's PullString technology designed to make two-way conversations happen with animations and toys, so she's capable of natural speech recognition and picks up cues from what you say to formulate a response. She can even remember past convos and, like a good BFF, take note of her owner's preferences to reference in future replies. You will need to push a button so she knows you're talking to her directly, but that's not such a huge inconvenience.
CogniToys' huggable dinosaur is connected to IBM's supercomputer
Talk about machine learning and toys in the same breath and it's hard not to imagine a deranged AI grooming an army of children to take over the world. We're reasonably sure that's not Elemental Path's plan, despite teaming up with IBM to develop a toy that uses machine learning to interact with your child. Today, the company is announcing CogniToys, a new range of little plastic monsters that harness the power of Watson, IBM's supercomputer, to help your little ones learn.
Nerf's higher-powered foam guns are meant for older fans
Nerf guns can be fun if you're a grown-up -- just ask the legions of people who modded the Maverick revolver. They're not really intended for an older audience, however, which is why Hasbro just unveiled a range of Nerf blasters meant for high schoolers (and adults) who take their plastic weapons seriously. The highlight is the Rival line you see above, which shoots foam balls at nearly 70MPH -- they won't sting like paintball rounds, but you're definitely going to feel the blow. You can get the $50 Zeus MXV-1200 if you insist on fast motorized reloads, or the $25 Apollo XV-700 if you're content with lever action.
What are Mattel and Google doing with View-Master?
With a View-Master topped teaser (which you can see after the break), Google and Mattel invoked one of our favorite childhood memories -- and frequent inspiration for low-budget virtual reality shenanigans. The two are planning an "exclusive announcement and product debut" ahead of the New York Toy Fair next week, but other than the View-Master theme there's little to go on. Mattel's Fisher-Price division tried a View-Master comeback for the digital age in 2012, although all trace of it is gone now. We'll have to wait until next Friday to see for ourselves what they're planning, but we invite your wildest speculation until then. So what are you thinking -- a plastic pair of branded Mattel VR goggles based on the Cardboard project, or maybe a Hot Wheel based on something else Google has been working on? ... href='https://www.wedgies.com/question/54d50a247978490e00000193'>What will Mattel & Google announce next week?
