See this cute little space dino, floating like it’s the most natural thing in the world? Well he was made by hand, with love, in orbit. And you can never have him because he belongs to Earth’s luckiest three-year-old boy. Aren’t you green with envy?
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When you’re a kid, sometimes the only friend you have is a stuffed animal. It’s always with you—when you eat, when you sleep, when you play—and all those years take a toll on a fake teddy bear! These pictures show the after effects of teddy bears and stuffed animals who were loved too much. It’s a little heartbreaking? More »
You probably had a teddy bear as a kid, or some other stuffed animal. We all did. There’s nothing wrong with that, right? Not here in the real world (probably) but according to the short film Tufty, you’ve got some blood on your hands. More »
If Teddy Ruxpin had tried harder to keep up with technology he wouldn’t have risen from the grave using proprietary digital cartridges. Instead, he’d have a smartphone dock embedded in his torso like this Japaese Cocolo Bear does. More »
It worked just fine for Pinocchio, so why not animatronic stuffed bears? A group of researchers from the Tokyo University of Technology are on hand at SIGGRAPH’s Emerging Technologies section this week to demonstrate “Stuffed Toys Alive!,” a new type of interactive toy that replaces the rigid plastic infrastructure used today with a seemingly simple string pulley-based solution. Several strings are installed at different points within each of the cuddly gadget’s limbs, then attached to a motor that pulls the strings to move the fuzzy guy’s arms while also registering feedback, letting it respond to touch as well. There’s not much more to it than that — the project is ingenious but also quite simple, and it’s certain to be a hit amongst youngsters. The obligatory creepy hands-on video is waiting just past the break.
Gallery: Stuffed Toys Alive! hands-on
Filed under: Robots
Stuffed Toys Alive! replaces mechanical limbs with strings for a much softer feel (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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