Google
A logo is pictured at Google's European Engineering Center in Zurich April16, 2015. Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann

Google Inc. has filed for a patent for the toys like teddy bears and bunny rabbits which can be connected to the Internet and keep a watchful eye on the children, eavesdrop and control smart home appliances. The devices will also be able to listen and follow given set of instruction like switching on and off of lights or turning or certain home appliance, while interacting with its home owner. According to the descriptions given by the patent, the devices would turn their head in the direction of the user and listen to the instruction given and then send the command to the remote computer servers.

The legal technology firm SmartUp was the first to spot the three-year-old patent which describe the toys to be connected with speakers, microphones, motors, cameras as well as a wireless Internet connection. The firm has deemed the proposal as "one of Google's creepiest patents yet.” The toy device will either resemble a teddy bear or a bunny rabbit, along with other alternatives like aliens and dragons. The reason behind this is that the patent wants the machine to be looking cute as in the form of toys which will encourage even the youngest members of the family to interact with it. Furthermore, these toys can also be used to control a wide range of devices that are found in home such as televisions, home thermostats and DVD players, along with motorised window curtains and lights.

Although the patent invented by Richard Wayne DeVaul was filed in February 2012, it has only just been published. DeVaul is the director of rapid evaluation and mad science at Google X, the firm's secret lab. He says, "To express interest, an anthropomorphic device may open its eyes, lift its head and/or focus its gaze on the user. To express curiosity, it may tilt its head, furrow its brow, and/or scratch its head with an arm." According to a spokesperson from Google, “The company files patent on a variety of ideas that its employees come up with. Some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don't. Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patent applications.”

The patent sure has raised privacy concern, and the director of SmartUp, Emma Carr, voices it by saying, “The privacy concerns are clear when devices have the capacity to record conversations and log activity. When those devices are aimed specifically at children, then for many this will step over the creepy line. Children should be able to play in private and shouldn't have to fear this sort of passive invasion of their privacy. It is simply unnecessary."

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