Future Toy Boy

It’s never been more fun to be a kid, says a futurologist. In 10 years, it’ll be “fantastic”.

Evidence of Ian Pearson’s childlike curiosity is scattered about his office. A robotic LEGO set lies in the corner, an electronic plasma globe sits atop his filing cabinet and a Sony AIBO robotic dog “wandering around here somewhere”. Pearson’s job is to peer into the future of technology for BTExact, an arm of British Telecom. He forecasts everything from social trends, politics and information technology to the future of retail markets and public transportation. But Pearson’s passions also run in a more infantile direction: he loves thinking about what kids will be playing with in the future.

Pearson doesn’t worry that high-tech toys will stifle imagination. “I think it would be really great to grow up now,” he says. “I am 42, going on 43, and it is just starting to be good fun. In 10 years, we are going to be living a fantastic lifestyle.” Between now and then, Pearson reckons that toys will continue the trend of becoming interactive playmates for children. If he’s right (which happens 85 percent of the time, by his estimate) our children’s bedrooms will look something right out of the movie “Toy Story”. Here are some of his visions:

Heartbreak hotel: Dolls may soon come equipped with “social behavior” chips, endowing them with the ability to “talk” to one another (they’d also be linked wirelessly). The result would be a kind of doll soap opera. Imagine a 3-year-old girl watching four of her favorite Barbies having a tea party, saying please pass the biscuits, and gossiping about the neighbor’s G.I. Joe action figures. The toys might walk on legs made from polymer gels, which bend in response to laser signals. They’d socialize with one another, perhaps even getting into relationships, followed by the inevitable break-ups.

Virtual friends: In chatterbox Web sites, people can now log on and have a dialog with a computer-automated counterpart. Sony’s AIBO asks to be petted and flips its ears to feign understanding. In a few years, children’s dolls and other toys may be endowed with even more sophisticated personalities. Children will talk to them, and dolls will sense a child’s emotional state and respond accordingly: if the child’s upset, the doll may give a hug or speak more softly, or if the child’s angry, it might hide in a corner. “These are dolls that wander around and behave as though they’re alive,” says Pearson. “They begin to have real life consciousness and awareness. The doll ceases to be a toy and will have the same basic legal protections as animals.”

Wraparound world: By 2010, contact lenses may allow kids (and adults) to play in three-dimensional virtual worlds. A child’s wildest dreams would become a reality – virtual animals, fairy princesses and pets would fill his or her room. Parents would no longer have to worry that their computer-playing kids were too sedentary: a child could play virtual soccer with Manchester United or dance with Christina Aguilera. “Instead of using a joy-stick, you are using your whole body,” says Barry Pusitz, senior account manager at Vivid Group, a Toronto firm that’s developing “gesture” technology. Physical therapists at the University of Toronto are experimenting with the technology to help rehabilitate cerebral-palsy victims. Vivid plans to market a “wraparound” 3-D game next year for about $ 7,500 each (though it uses a screen rather than contact lenses). This technology, says Pearson, could ultimately be “a fantastic tool for a child’s imagination.”

Sarah Sennott

/ Newsweek, Aug. 25/Sept. 1, 2003/

SET WORK

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16