I've seen the "Chucky Bear"

Its a little scary opening up my blog posting UI while sitting at our annual Microsoft Research "Techfest" that is for "Blue Badge" employees only.  But hey, I figure I can talk about stuff that ABC news gets to cover.  Yes, I've seen the prototype bear in action. And yes, when I walked by and it started tracking me I was initially frightened.  My second thought was that it reminded me of "teddy" from the movie "AI".... still slightly creeped out. :-)

Then I heard the pitch, realized that what they have is merely a prototype, and thought "in a world with electronic dogs for pets, why not electronic teddy bears for a child's friend?"  I remember how disappointed I was, as a child, when it turned out that Teddy Ruxpin was only reading from pre-recorded tapes. Maybe future generations of kids won't have to live with that disappointment. :-)