The New York Toy Fair is underway, and among the new offerings this year is the Hello Barbie Hologram. The toy appears to use artificial intelligence to provide answers to questions in a fashion similar to how Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant work, although it does much more than that.
Meet the Hello Barbie Hologram
The hologram is basically a figure of Barbie inside a box that’s a good size to sit on a child’s nightstand. A child can either ask her a question or invite her to move, exercise or dance, according to CNET. A Mattel representative demonstrated the Hello Barbie Hologram while on stage at the toy fair.
The demonstrator asked about the weather in Malibu, and she answered, “72 and sunny, sounds like flip flop weather to me.”
The Hello Barbie Hologram can also dance to music that’s programmed into the device or even music that the child plays. Using a mobile app, parents can add details about the child like her birthday and where she lives, thus enabling the hologram to give the local weather report.
Hello Barbie can help parents
The hologram does have some features beyond what Siri does, like reminding children to brush their teeth. Barbie gets out her toothbrush and asks the child if she’s ready to brush. The device also works as a Bluetooth speaker, so children who want to use their iPad to play music can do so over the hologram box.
The toy also has a lot of fun features too. For example, there is more than one Barbie to choose from. A girl can ask the device to “change my Barbie,” and it will present an image of a different doll. Mattel has included a variety of dolls with different skin tones, ethnicities and body types. However, the toymaker hasn’t included any Ken dolls in the selection just yet.
The Hello Barbie Hologram is slated for launch this fall, just in time for parents to evaluate it and decide whether it might be a good Christmas gift. Mattel did not give details on pricing for the device yet.
