If you see a fluffy furry teddy or a bunny tilting its head and staring at you from the corner of the room, don’t be scared. For these are not evil toys from the video game Five Nights at Freddy’s which just happened to come alive. These might be the new generation toys with microphones in their ears, cameras in their eyes, speakers in their mouth and motors in their neck, which can listen to someone, turn a head to make eye contact, hear what you are saying and respond with pre-recorded phrases.
Though it was designed by Richard Wayne DeVaul as a toy which would become a friend of the children and help in controlling smart home appliances, experts and activists are apprehensive about its invasion of privacy.
A spokesperson for Google was unable to say whether this was a product the firm might develop for sure.
"We file patent applications on a variety of ideas that our employees come up with. Some of those ideas later mature into real products or services and some don't. Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patent applications," she added.
(image credits: bbc.com)