Empathy Tutors

It is a jet black, cold water night and I'm moving slowly through it, eyes tired. Just had some spicy Thai ginger soup and a sandwich (so my tall glass of water is going down smoothly, for sure). Thought I'd surf for a bit, then logoff and watch a movie or something.

The geek in me saw this, however, and got caught up. I love the idea of reactive, "emotional" toys and wonder if, at some point, they might even evolve into some sort of empathy teaching tools. To spend time with a robot that convincingly mimics life might be a way to improve empathy for other living things. What a cool thing that would be.

Pleo looks neat, and I would love to play with one, but I've got my heart set on a walking, talking "Teddy" from the movie A.I.

Yeah, I know. I'm a dork.