ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the types of smart toys and robots that either have some of the attributes of fictional characters or that can be incorporated into interactive stories. The first true smart toys entered the world, led by Teddy Ruxpin, a singing, storytelling teddy bear. To illustrate some of the challenges one is faced with in designing a new smart toy, let's look at a project one was called in to work on, an interactive dollhouse populated by a family of four tiny dolls. New technologies, such as the miniature motor used in Baby Bright Eyes, are giving dolls the ever-increasing ability to model living creatures. An inventor like Shackelford must try to anticipate what toy manufacturers will find attractive. As people have seen with the Belle doll from Beauty and the Beast, smart toys can be given personalities and support interactive narratives.
