There’s that age when small children, immediately after beginning to express themselves properly, start talking a lot. A lot. I’ve read somewhere that a 4-5 year old asks on average 400 different questions daily. If you don’t have a kid this age, close your eyes and imagine a series of questions pouring at you “Mama, why is the grass green? Why are the eggs round? Why is the wood hard? Why is the air invisible?” with the speed of light. My son is not talking human yet, but by the way and amount he’s talking in his own language I should brace myself, questions are coming. It’s all fun and excitement in the beginning but soon all parents get so tired (if I’m wrong and there’s a single parent out there who can’t get enough of the question bombardment please excuse me, I’m not there yet).
The following quirk comes in the shape of a small alien, came down to earth to give parents a bit of relief and children answers to their neverending questions. His name is Woogie and I’m very proud to place him in Quirk Heaven, as his creators are my fellow nationals and whenever something outstanding happens in my home country it makes my heart smile. Woogie is a smart educational toy. What makes it special and different than the rest of the smart toys available is its artificial intelligence component. Woogie is equipped to learn alongside with his kid companion: the more the kid talks to Woogie, the smarter they both become. Woogie has no screen, which makes it an ideal toy in a world full of tablets and cellphones.
What Woogie can do:
- Delivers facts & opens conversations with kids aged 6 to 12 based on their interests and educational needs
- Has a sparkling personality and sense of humor that makes the interaction fun, like a game
- New content is continuously generated so that parents can get new games, quizzes, riddles, and interactive stories as soon they are released
- Parents have full control to restrict access on certain topics or unlock fresh new content anytime
- Via the app parents are prompted about the newest curiosities and interests of their kid, and they can block and release new types of content
Woogie is connected to a curated knowledge data bank which enables him to ask and respond to any possible question according to the developers. My only concern about Woogie is because the way his story sounds so good, some parents might take him as a substitute for their presence. It even has a feature of story telling/reading, which a parent might find comfortable to pass on to Woogie. No device can replace a parent and Woogie should be used in my opinion only in the situation when the parent is not available: when working exceptionally long hours in the office, while in the car during longer rides, to replace the iPad, or when a parent is in the house but not available (read this: on the toilet, cooking, doing the laundry, attending to other members of the family etc.).
Currently Woogie is featured on Indiegogo. If the funding goes well, he is expected to land to Earth beginning 2018 at a price of €124. Quirk Heaven wishes Woogie lots of luck in achieving its goal