Barbie has been many things in her long history as a doll. In the past, she's been a doctor, jockey, superhero, builder, mom and princess. But for the first time, Barbie will be connected to the internet.
Mattel announced its plans during the New York Toy Fair to team up with U.S. start-up ToyTalk to develop "Hello Barbie," the first version that will let children have actual conversations with the doll. According to Mattel's spokeswoman, this was the number one feature requested by children.
Hello Barbie can remember various details of a conversation, such as whether a child told it that he or she liked to dance. However, Barbie requires a WiFi connection to work and only has an hour-long battery.
Hello Barbie's learning algorithm sounds similar to Furby's original software. The longer the user played with the Furby, the better its speech patterns became. Unlike Furby, Hello Barbie has the potential for constantly adding phrases and algorithms over time.
However, this opens up the potential for doll hacks, as the BBC notes. Last January, security experts found a loophole in a popular smart doll that could be used to make it say anything the hacker desired, including offensive statements. It's unclear if ToyTalk or Mattel are taking action to make sure such hacks cannot occur.
Hello Barbie will cost $74.99 on the U.S. market.
