Smart toy and technology developer Elemental Path, creator of CogniToys, the first toys powered by IBM Watson, has surpassed its Kickstarter goal by 550 percent.
Launched on February 16th, the campaign raised $275,000 and received support from 2,256 campaign backers. As a result of exceeding several funding stretch goals, Elemental Path will also introduce new color options for CogniToys, as well as sticker packs that will include customizable add-ons such as moustaches, bow ties and hearts.
Creating a new opportunity for educational toys and technology, Elemental Path’s CogniToys are handheld dinosaurs that allow kids to directly engage in intelligent, personalized conversation. The company’s patent-pending technology, combined with Watson’s cognitive computing and natural language processing capabilities, enables the toys to speak and listen on command.
CogniToys evolve, learn and grow over time to keep interactions fresh with intelligent responses, such as knock-knock jokes. Best suited for children aged four to seven, the dinos also keep parents involved through a Parent Panel, accessible online and via mobile devices. Parents are able to view a text log of what their kids have said to the toy, as well as their progress in learning basic math and language skills.
Co-founder of Elemental Path, Donald Coolidge stated:
“We’re bringing a new kind of experience to educational play by bridging the gaps between educational toys, today’s advanced technology and fun. At the start of this campaign, we were eager to see the response to CogniToys. Now, we’re beyond glad that what we’ve created has resonated so strongly with our Kickstarters. While we’ve now formed a real community around our toy. This is just the first step of many more to come on our journey with CogniToys.”
Kickstarter backers spanning grandparents, parents and even tech enthusiasts have all expressed their support of CogniToys. Due to the campaign, 2,278 backers will receive dinos in November, as their donations served as pre-orders. In addition, ten backers who donated $1,000 each will receive the campaign’s education package, meaning they will have the opportunity to work with the Elemental Path team in order to tailor multiple CogniToys towards the schools of their choices.
Watson is the first commercially available cognitive computing capability representing a new era in computing. Elemental Path is an IBM Business Partner and active member of the Watson Developer Cloud community on Bluemix, the company’s digital innovation platform that enables developers to rapidly build, deploy and manage apps across any combination of public, private and hybrid cloud.
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