No doubt there will be some of us out there who will claim that this is similar in nature to Amazon’s Echo home speaker/information hub. The potential of having Google toys that are activated by a spoken word or phrase is certainly an interesting one, as the patent did mention that it will attempt to have the toy “aim its gaze at the source of the social cue.”
Integrated motors mean that these toys are able to physically open their eyes as well as their heads in the direction of the person who is delivering the command. Embedded speakers will allow such toys to verbally respond to the user, as well as the ability to mimic emotions. Sounds like Furby is going to have a pretty strong competitor in the coming holiday seasons.