A revolutionary new AI-powered teddy bear is changing how parents approach bedtime stories. Skyrocket, a tech toy company, has introduced Poe the AI Story Bear, a plush toy that uses advanced AI models from OpenAI to create unique bedtime stories based on a child’s suggestions. While some might see this as a helpful solution to nightly storytelling, others might find it eerie—reminiscent of tech toys like Furby. However, Skyrocket hopes parents see Poe as a friendly companion.
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How Poe the AI Story Bear Works
Poe creates stories through a mix of AI-powered speech and curated story elements chosen by kids from the accompanying Poe AI Bear: Story Creator app. The bear narrates these tales in a synthetic yet friendly voice, produced by ElevenLabs’ AI speech generator. Kids can choose from a variety of themes, characters, and settings for their personalized stories, even including themselves in the adventure. Each story is unique, thanks to the AI’s ability to remix the chosen elements differently each time.
Ensuring Safety and Privacy
As safety is a major concern for children’s products, Skyrocket has ensured that Poe is designed without cameras, microphones, or internet connectivity. Instead, the toy connects to a mobile device via Bluetooth and only pulls story inputs from the app. This setup limits the potential for inappropriate content, with curated themes and characters ensuring a safe storytelling experience.
Multilingual and Affordable
Poe the AI Story Bear is designed to appeal to families from diverse backgrounds, with the ability to tell stories in 30 languages. Despite its advanced technology, Poe is priced at an affordable $50, making it accessible to many families. Skyrocket aims to expand its line of AI-powered toys in the future, potentially offering even more tech-driven innovations for kids.
A New Era of Toy Storytelling
Poe the AI Story Bear could become a modern-day Buzz Lightyear for today’s tech-savvy kids. With AI at its core, Poe offers a fresh, customizable storytelling experience, allowing children to be a part of the story creation process while parents can trust the toy’s built-in safeguards.
