Technology News

Is Google Making An Anthropomorphic Teddy Bear Spy?

Google Spy Bear

Google’s brainiacs are rumored to be working on many strange projects in the company’s secretive Google X research facility, but their latest creation takes the cake.

According to a newly filed patent by the tech giant, it is developing a strange sort of teddy bear that could eavesdrop on our conversations, monitor our movements and manage nearby media devices. Moreover, the seemingly cute animal will be stuffed with speakers, cameras and other gadgetries, which in theory, would make it the perfect spy toy.

However, Google hasn’t mentioned anything about spying. In fact, it is completely silent on the issue and is instead letting the rumor mill go crazy.

The patent, which has been existence for at least three years, was recently discovered last week by SmartUp. After which point, other media outlets joined in with their own coverage.

The creepy tech toy will apparently also have a microphone which will feed the machine inside with audio signals. As soon as a specific, preset word is spoken in close proximity of the device, it will become active and start recording everything. If need be, it could turn to face the human speaker whose sound triggered its response. In addition, the robot can respond to and interact with the other person, or connect and control the Internet of Things (IoT).

The petition was filed in 2012 and since the robot has yet to reach the market in the last three years, there are those who speculate that the project may have been scrapped.

Following the outing of the news, which has raised plenty of eyebrows, Google released a statement in an email sent to CNN Money in which the the company wrote:

We hold patents on a variety of ideas — some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don’t.

Do you think this spy-esque anthropomorphic teddy bear will ever reach the marketplace?

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