Brian the Brain – the world’s first digital roommate. There may come a time in some distant future when historians will retrieve one of these from a dank forgotten cellar in Poughkeepsie, and recognise it as the last remaining icon of the lost years of 2000’s Techno Age. “Ahh…” they will say wisely to each other in Esperanto, “So this is from the time when our ancestors still had the option to take a different path.” And they will give each other a small knowing nod, as if to share a secret joke. $119.95. [Video]
This animatronic brain incorporates The Concise encyclopedia from Britannica, a dictionary, and a world history timeline, and uses voice recognition technology to respond to verbal prompts, for an interactive roommate that children can use as an academic resource or as a toy. Not only an academic aide, Brian the Brain asks questions concerning the child’s likes and dislikes, using the child’s responses to personalize conversations and to tell jokes. Brian’s database can store telephone numbers and the device connects to a phone jack, allowing Brian to become a child’s personal operator that dials the phone numbers of friends and family in response to verbal commands
