An illuminating animation device secured within the housing of a bubble producing toy. Animation is created by the illumination of LEDs, which are secured within chambers of the device and project through a film and onto an inside surface of the housing. A printed circuit board is secured within the device and is electrically connected to a microcontroller unit secured within the housing. One mode of activating the illuminating animation device is via the connection of a hat to the housing. The hat includes resisters that close a circuit between the toy and the hat. The microcontroller unit detects and recognizes the value of the resistors and transmits a correlating signal to various electronic components of the toy, which activates features associated with the resistance value.

An interactive toy including a reader for detecting a marker in a proximity of the interactive toy. The interactive toy also has a sensor for detecting movement of the interactive toy and a memory having programmed instructions and configuration data thereon. The programmed instructions are configured to control a response of the interactive toy to a detection of the marker, the response being defined at least in part by the configuration data. The interactive toy also has a processing unit configured to execute the programmed instructions according to the configuration data when the processing unit is in a play state. The processing unit is further configured to modify the configuration data in response to a combination of a detection of the marker in a proximity of the interactive toy, and a detection of a movement of the interactive toy when the processing unit is in a configuration state.

An interactive toy includes a housing, a control module, a motor, a rotating shaft, and an external member. The rotating shaft is exposed outside the housing, and is connected to the external member. The control module is configured to control the motor to drive the rotating shaft to rotate. The toy further includes a measurement module and an analysis module. The measurement module is configured to measure an angle by which the rotating shaft rotates from an initial stationary state to the state in which its rotating speed reaches the maximum. The analysis module is configured to compare a preset reference angle with the angle by which the rotating shaft from the initial stationary state to the state in which the rotating speed of the rotating shaft reaches the maximum to determine whether the external member encounters an obstacle.

A device control apparatus includes at least one processor that executes a program stored in at least one memory. The at least one processor sets growth degree data representing a simulated growth degree of a device, acquires character data representing a simulated character of the device, acquires other data related to the device, the other data being different from the character data, selectively sets a first movement mode based on the character data and a second movement mode based on the other data as a movement mode of the device according to the set growth degree data, and controls a movement of the device according to the set movement mode.

A robot includes: a body part capable of contacting a placement surface; a head part connected to a front end of the body part to be rotatable about a first axis of rotation extending in a front-back direction of the body part and rotatable about a second axis of rotation extending in a width direction of the body part, and capable of contacting the placement surface; a drive unit which performs a rotation about the first axis of rotation and a rotation about the second axis of rotation independently of each other to drive the head part; and a processor which controls the drive unit to perform preparation control to rotate the head part about the second axis of rotation by a preparation angle and vibration control to alternately repeat forward rotation and reverse rotation of the head part about the first axis of rotation.

This disclosure provides devices and methods for implementing a robotic doll head. An implementation of the doll head can have a face mask having a pair of integral eyelids and an eyeball actuation frame supporting a pair of moveable eye assemblies. Each moveable eye assembly can have an eyeball element and an eyelid actuator assembly. The eyelid actuator assembly can have an eyelid support that can be coupled to an interior surface of one integral eyelid of the pair of integral eyelids. The eyelid actuator assembly can have a drive band configured to magnetically couple to the eyelid support and move the drive band in an arcuate path to blink the integral eyelids. The moveable eye assemblies can be offset from a centerline of the doll head by a separation angle by the eyeball actuation frame.

An interactive toy includes a housing, a control module, a motor, a rotating shaft, and an external member. The rotating shaft is exposed outside the housing, and is connected to the external member. The control module is configured to control the motor to drive the rotating shaft to rotate. The toy further includes a measurement module and an analysis module. The measurement module is configured to measure an angle by which the rotating shaft rotates from an initial stationary state to the state in which its rotating speed reaches the maximum. The analysis module is configured to compare a preset reference angle with the angle by which the rotating shaft from the initial stationary state to the state in which the rotating speed of the rotating shaft reaches the maximum to determine whether the external member encounters an obstacle.

Empathy toward a robot is increased by the robot emulating human-like or animal-like behavior. A robot includes a movement determining unit that determines a direction of movement, an action determining unit that selects a gesture from multiple kinds of gesture, and a drive mechanism that executes a specified movement and gesture. When a user enters a hall, an external sensor installed in advance detects a return home, and notifies the robot via a server that the user has returned home. The robot heads to the hall, and welcomes the user home by performing a gesture indicating goodwill, such as sitting down and raising an arm.

The invention relates to an interactive backpack comprising a backpack body which in turn includes a figure of a character, the backpack also comprising: audio means for recording and reproducing sound; a movable part; mechanical means for moving the movable part; and control means comprising an actuator disposed in a position on the body of the backpack which is linked to the figure of the character, the actuator being configured to initiate sound recording and automatic reproduction of the recorded sound.

An apparatus includes a movement mechanism, a sensor, a microphone, a speaker, a processor and a memory. The processor selects a target region, controls the movement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move to the target region, and causes a speaker to output a first sound. When counting a predetermined number, the processor causes the sensor to trace a movement locus of a user. In a case where the processor has determined that an acquired sound contains a predetermined speech, the processor controls the movement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move through a predetermined space. When the processor has determined that the apparatus is not to intentionally lose in a game of hide-and-seek, the processor controls the movement mechanism to cause the apparatus to move to a target blind spot within the predetermined space, and causes the speaker to output a second sound.