Need to go upstairs to say goodnight to your children? Wouldn't it just be easier if you could send them a message to be read out in a creepy robot voice by one of their toys?
Help may be at hand with the launch of Toymail, an invention that lets you communicate with your kids via a talking animal-shaped mailbox.
“While travelling, I miss a lot of the little people in my life, that are not so easy to get on the phone,” says its inventor, Gauri Nanda. “So I decided to start a toy company that would help me stay connected.”
Using a simple iPhone app, parents and relatives can record messages on their phones that are sent directly to the colourful plastic Mailmen, squarish versions of pigs, cows and rabbits that look like they've been put through a waste compactor.
With names like Fairfax, Rochester and Milksop, the Mailmen will “snort, wheeze or whinny” to let you know they've got mail, before reading it out in a high-pitched cartoon voice. The child can reply directly into the toy, and their message will be sent straight to your phone – thankfully in their own sweet voice, rather than read out by the soulless Siri.
The promotional video introduces us to Viella, 3 ½, known as “Meatball” to her friends and family, who is communicating with her parents on a normal day via her inanimate plastic pig. “Do you miss me?” asks her mum in a message that emerges as a shrill squeal through the pig's snout. “No!” replies Meatball. “I've had no time to miss you.” Now stop bothering me with the app that makes you feel more connected, and come home to play with me instead!
Her father gives it a go, sending her a voicemail from his shopping trip asking what she wants for dinner. “A jellybean sandwich!” she roars back. That'll show him.
Toymail is the latest innovation in a growing trend of “connected devices” that embed communication systems in wifi-enabled products – often designed as toysto make the techy aspect seem more palatable. It could well be a fun way to keep in touch with distant relatives, or to continually remind your toddler that you exist while you're at work. But might you soon be vying with Rochester the Racoon for your child's attention?
And what about your kids, waiting expectantly by their surrogate plastic friend for an electronic greeting when daddy's ignoring them on his business trip? Don't worry, says Toymail: “We will send you a fun, ad-free greeting every day so your toys never run out of things to say.”
