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June 4, 2007
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When I was a kid I had this doll called a My Buddy. I loved that dumb thing, which was really odd because though I looked like a My Buddy, my twin brother did too and basically served as a real-life doll I could beat up. I don't know why I wanted a My Buddy doll.
Anyway, I always hoped my My Buddy would come alive and walk and talk. Then Child's Play, that horror movie where the My Buddy lookalike kills people, was made and My Buddy became My Wrestling Partner. I was terrified of the doll, so I beat it up with pile drivers, headlocks and DDTs (what I liked to call "damage done tremendously").
I always kinda hoped the doll would fight back. Kevin, my twin, was no match. (He is now, and I have the cheek bruise from a scuffle this weekend to prove it.) But alas, the robotic technology did not exist to make My Buddy walk and talk. Now, however, I'm willing to bet that within 10 years we'll be buying our children toys that interact with them on a complex level.
The first steps to this have already been completed. Enter "Pleo," one of the first robots that has really amazed me. It's a dinosaur that its creators say will learn from its environment and express emotions. And early video of the dinosaur shows a toy with fluid movements and some autonomy.
For $200, the toy is an investment but would do no more harm, it seems, than the TV does.
Take a look at that video by clicking on my link above then tell me what you think.
Are we mere years away from being slaves to a race of intelligent master robots?
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