Robot Tops British Favorite Toy List
September 4, 2006 by Lei
Filed under Children's Toys
The Robosapien V2 is Britain’s favorite toy and is expected to be the runaway hit of this Christmas even with a nearly $300 price tag (price in the UK, $200 in the US).
As I mentioned earlier, my son has a prized robot collection that includes the Mini Robosapien V1 and V2 plus the Playskool version of the Robosapien. He doesn’t care for them to do much of anything, just likes to look at them. And if any started talking to him, I am sure he’d run for the hills.
If experts are to be believed, his children will be able to have conversations with their robots and maybe my son will say, “When I was your age, we didn’t have any robots to keep us entertained. We just had the lint from our toenails.” 
Rollo Carpenter, expert on artificial intelligence:
You can think of it as a conversational Wikipedia. Imagine it operating on a Google scale with billions in its database and millions of interaction everyday. At that point, its conversation may well become more interesting than that of the humans around you.
I’d like to think I’m more interesting than any robot, but I guess I’m not the best judge of that.
FYI, here are Britain’s top 5 most popular toys according to Duracell:
1. Robosapien V2
2. Big Race Ducati Desmosedici
3. Star Wars lightsaber
4. Girl Crush Streak and Style
5. Ferrari 1/12e RC
Metro.co.uk, September 4, 2006
Technorati Tags: robosapien, robots, artificial intelligence, AI, toys, children, kids
$200? Yikes! Glad my boys aren’t old enough to be aware of that toy yet!
Kerri: Next time at your mall, be sure to avoid Sharper Image or Discovery Channel Store.
We spent countless hours in there on this last vacation to California.
Now that has the makings of a very expensive Christmas. What is it going to be like when this age group gets into their teens?