- Cindy Smart, the first doll in the world to be able to
read, tell the time and do sums, doesn't flinch when her inventor, Bob
Del Principe, shows her a flash card with the word Vogel written on it.
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- "Ohhhh! I know that," she chirps in her high-pitched
American accent.
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- "That's German for bird."
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- How about some simple arithmetic, like three minus eight,
or what is the meaning of Pesci?
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- No problems for the flaxen-haired doll, who got all the
right answers and still managed to giggle coyly at yesterday's launch.
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- But show her a flash card with the word "damn"
written on it, and Cindy purses her lolly-pink lips.
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- "We don't say those kind of words," she shrills,
refusing to even spell it.
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- "That's a bad word."
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- Cindy Smart, who "sees" via a camera located
under a bee on her overalls and has a computer "brain" that can
recognise more than 600 words and objects, was launched for the first time
outside the United States at Myer Melbourne yesterday.
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- "Cindy Smart is the first toy ever to have the sense
of sight and this new technology has a chance to create a revolution in
our industry," Mr Del Principe, who also created the Spice Girls fashion
dolls and Tekno the Robotic Puppy, said.
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- "It's not hard to imagine that every hi-tech toy
20 years from now will have the ability to see."
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- Although the Australian Cindy Smart says "Mum"
instead of "Mom" and spells colour with a 'u', she has retained
her American accent.
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- Mr Del Principe said if Cindy was as popular here as
in the US, where she sold out within a week of last November's launch,
he would develop a local version of the doll, possibly named Sheila.
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- He has also been approached to make dolls that read Hebrew,
Japanese, Russian and Greek.
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- At $149 a doll, Cindy is not exactly cheap, but her creator
believes her academic prowess will help sway parents.
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- "If you experience (learning) in a magical way,
it soaks in," Mr Del Principe said.
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- Toyworld in Hobart said it could be up to four weeks,
or longer, before Cindy was on its shelves.
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- "What will they come up with next," a Toyworld
spokeswoman said last night.
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- "It will be a big seller for Christmas."
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- The Mercury
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- Copyright 2003 News Limited.
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- http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7010272%255E13762,00.html
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