Showing posts with label toy being. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toy being. Show all posts

Sunday, June 7, 2026

A toy to think with: The Erector Set

What Happened to the Erector Set? | The Toy That Taught Every Boy in America to Build

From the YouTube page:

For generations, the Erector Set wasn’t just a toy — it was a hands-on introduction to engineering, creativity, and real-world building.

Long before modern STEM kits and digital learning tools, children across America learned how to think, design, and construct using metal beams, bolts, and gears. Created by A. C. Gilbert in the early 1900s, the Erector Set became a symbol of innovation and imagination, inspiring future engineers and inventors.

In this video, we explore the complete story of the Erector Set — from its invention and rise during the golden age of American toys, to its cultural impact and eventual decline in a rapidly changing world of plastic toys and digital entertainment.

Discover how it competed with brands like LEGO, why its popularity began to fade, and what ultimately happened to one of the most educational toys ever created.

From steel structures to childhood dreams, this is the story of the toy that taught a generation how to build.

If you’ve ever wondered what happened to the legendary Erector Set… this nostalgic deep dive reveals it all.

Sunday, August 17, 2025

Fuzzy cuddly chatbots for kids

Amanda Hess, They’re Stuffed Animals. They’re Also A.I. Chatbots. NYTimes, Aug, 15, 2025.

Curio is a company that describes itself as “a magical workshop where toys come to life.” When I recently visited its cheery headquarters in Redwood City, Calif., I found it located between a credit union and an air-conditioner repair service. I stepped inside to meet the company’s founders, Misha Sallee and Sam Eaton. And also Grem, a fuzzy cube styled like an anime alien.

Curio makes chatbots wrapped in stuffed animals. Each of its three smiling plushies has a back zipper pocket that hides a Wi-Fi-enabled voice box, linking the character to an artificial intelligence language model calibrated to converse with children as young as 3.

Eaton plunked Grem on a conference table and positioned it to face me. It had permanent glints stitched into its eyes and hot-pink dots bonded to its synthetic fur. “Hey, Grem,” Eaton said. “What are the spots on your face?”

A bright mechanical trill originated from Grem. “Oh, those are my special pink dots,” it said. “I get more as I grow older. They’re like little badges of fun and adventure. Do you have something special that grows with you?” [...]

Grem, and its pals Grok (an apple-cheeked rocket ship not to be confused with the chatbot developed by xAI) and Gabbo (a cuddly video game controller), all of which sell for $99, aren’t the only toys vying for a place in your child’s’ heart. They join a coterie of other chatbot-enabled objects now marketed to kids: So far I’ve found four styled like teddy bears, five like robots, one capybara, a purple dinosaur and an opalescent ghost. They’re called things like ChattyBear the A.I.-Smart Learning Plushie and Poe the A.I. Story Bear. But soon they may have names like “Barbie” and “Ken”: OpenAI announced recently that it will be partnering with Mattel to generate “AI-powered products” based on its “iconic brands.”

A mongoose in the playroom:

In my home, the morning hour in which my children, who are 2 and 4, sit in front of a TV-or-something is a precious time. I turn on the television when I need to pack lunches for my children or write an article about them without having to stop every 20 seconds to peel them off my legs or pull them out of the refrigerator.

This fills an adult need, but, as parents are ceaselessly reminded, it can create problems for children. Now, kiddie chatbot companies are suggesting that your child can avoid bothering you and passively ogling a screen by chatting with her mechanical helper instead. Which feels a bit like unleashing a mongoose into the playroom to kill all the snakes you put in there.

Hmmmm....Behind the bot:

These anthropomorphized gadgets tell children that the natural endpoint for their curiosity lies inside their phones. Now that these kinds of characters are entering children’s physical spaces, in the form of cuddly toys, the terrifying specter of “the screen” has been obscured, but playtime is still tethered to a technological leash. As children speak to their special toy, it back channels with the large language model — and with their grown-ups too.

Surveilling the kiddies:

Curio ensures that every conversation with its chatbots is transcribed and beamed to the guardian’s phone. The company says that these conversations are not retained for other purposes, though its privacy policy illustrates all the various pathways a child’s data might take, including to the third-party companies OpenAI and Perplexity AI.

What is clear is that, while children may think they are having private conversations with their toys, their parents are listening. And as adults intercept these communications, they can reshape them, too, informing the chatbot of a child’s dinosaur obsession or even recruiting it to urge the child to follow a disciplinary program at school.

Of course there is Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (1995), as one of many fictional progenitors of such things. And then there's my own venture into this world The Freedoniad: A Tale of Epic Adventure in which Two BFFs Travel the Universe and End up in Dunkirk, New York.

Sunday, December 8, 2024

Claude 3.5 Sonnet tells a cute story and translates it into Japanese

Tell me about this picture.

This image presents an artistic and whimsical scene featuring two toys arranged on what appears to be a concrete structure or wall. On the left side, there is a pink plush toy with a floral or geometric pattern sitting near what looks like an industrial metal fixture or bolt. On the right side, there is a Godzilla action figure, recognizable by its distinctive dark coloring and characteristic dorsal plates.

The setting appears to be outdoors, with bare tree branches visible in the background along with what seems to be a bridge or elevated structure with green-painted elements. The composition creates an interesting juxtaposition between the soft, feminine character of the plush toy and the fierce, imposing nature of the Godzilla figure.

The lighting and perspective suggest this was taken during daytime, and the photographer has captured the scene in a way that makes these toys appear to be interacting or sharing a moment, despite their contrasting characteristics. The concrete surface they're positioned on shows natural weathering and embedded stones, adding texture to the composition.

Call the pink one “Sparkychan” and the other one “Gojochan” (after the Japanese, Gojira). Imagine that Sparkychan and Gojochan are chatting after an adventure. Tell me the story of that adventure.

Here's a story of what might have brought these two unlikely friends together:

Earlier that day, a major construction project near their favorite bridge had caused quite a stir. Sparkychan, with their soft pink exterior and delicate demeanor, had discovered that some of the local birds had their nests disturbed by the vibrations from the heavy machinery. Concerned for the wildlife, Sparkychan had tried to help but found the situation overwhelming.

That's when Gojochan, who had been observing from atop a nearby building, decided to intervene. Despite their intimidating appearance, Gojochan had always had a soft spot for protecting the local ecosystem. Using their impressive stature and well-known roar, they managed to convince the construction crew to temporarily pause their work.

Together, Sparkychan and Gojochan orchestrated a careful relocation of the birds' nests to a safer section of the bridge's support structure. Sparkychan's gentle nature helped keep the birds calm, while Gojochan's strength ensured they could reach the higher, more secure branches.

Now, as we see them in this moment, they're taking a well-deserved rest on their favorite spot overlooking the river. Sparkychan is sharing their perspective on how kindness and strength can work together, while Gojochan reflects on how their fearsome reputation sometimes makes others forget about their caring heart. The late afternoon sun catches the metal fixture beside them, a reminder of the industrial world they helped make a little bit more harmonious with nature today.

The unlikely duo has learned that sometimes the most effective partnerships come from embracing their differences rather than being limited by them.

Would you translate that story into Japanese.

Here is the story translated to Japanese in a polished, clear style:

その日の早く、彼らのお気に入りの橋の近くで大規模な建設工事が騒動を引き起こしていました。柔らかいピンク色の外見と繊細な性格を持つスパーキーちゃんは、重機の振動で地域の鳥たちの巣が危険な状態になっていることに気付きました。野生動物を心配したスパーキーちゃんは助けようとしましたが、状況があまりにも手に負えませんでした。

近くの建物の上から様子を見ていたゴジョちゃんは、その時介入することを決めました。威圧的な外見にもかかわらず、ゴジョちゃんは常に地域の生態系を守ることに深い関心を持っていました。その印象的な体格と有名な轟音を活かして、建設作業員たちに一時的に作業を中断するよう説得することができました。

スパーキーちゃんとゴジョちゃんは協力して、鳥の巣を橋の支柱構造のより安全な場所へと慎重に移動させました。スパーキーちゃんの優しい性質のおかげで鳥たちは落ち着いていられ、一方でゴジョちゃんの力強さのおかげでより高い、より安全な枝まで届くことができました。

今私たちが見ているこの瞬間、二人は川を見下ろすお気に入りの場所で、よく頑張った後の休憩を取っています。スパーキーちゃんは、優しさと強さがどのように協力し合えるかについての考えを共有し、一方でゴジョちゃんは、自分の恐ろしい評判のために、時として他の者たちが自分の思いやりの心を忘れてしまうことについて考えを巡らせています。傍らの金属製の設備に差す夕暮れの日差しは、彼らが今日少しだけ自然と調和させることができた産業社会を思い起こさせます。

この予想外のコンビは、時として最も効果的なパートナーシップは、違いによって制限されるのではなく、その違いを受け入れることから生まれるということを学びました。

Thursday, July 14, 2022

What will it take to bring the price of this robotic pet dog under, say, $249?

More on Japan's robotic companions. They're not all as expensive as Aibo (above). There's this story from CBS, including a story about robotic dogs in a kindergarten.

Unboxing your new Aibo:

Turing test for pets?

 

Getting to know you.
 

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Japanese paper dolls