Children can now hear Jolly Old St. Nick thanks to Talk with Santa, a new iOS application developed by Funnel Design Group for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. The app is available in the Apple App Store.
With it, parents can take on the role of virtual Santa via voice chat from another device. Parents can also instruct Santa to perform one of eight festive pre-set animated actions to further amaze and delight their children. Talk with Santa also features real-time voice altering so Santa sounds just the way he’s supposed to, allowing parents to continue the ruse for at least one more year.
“Talk with Santa is the first iOS App that allows parents to talk and interact with their children by controlling a virtual character – which, of course, is the one and only Santa Claus — from a second device, whether that’s an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad,” commented Bryan Ellison, chief visionary officer of Funnel Design Group, the creator of Talk with Santa. “The magical result is that children no longer have to send a letter to Santa and wonder what the response might be. Instead, they can have a personal chat with Santa, ask their questions, and receive a real-time response. Talk with Santa is an unforgettable and delightful experience for parents and children alike.”
As for me, I always thought Santa sounded a lot like my Mom, and his letters back to me always had Mom’s handwriting. Now I know better: Yes Len, there really is a Santa Claus.
But if that’s not enough holiday speech technology, there are dozens of speech-enabled toys and gadgets to amaze the kiddies and grown-ups alike this holiday season. Here are just a few:
- Toshiba’s voice-controlled air conditioner line, the Daiseikai VOICE NDR series, recognizes 21 words and phrases, such as stop, start, hot, cold.
- The Moshi Voice-Control alarm clock responds to 12 voice commands, including “set alarm” and my favorite, “turn off alarm.”
- Accenda’s Voice Control for iPod lets users adjust the volume and play, stop, and skip songs without lifting a finger.
- The Kelvin Voice-Activated Talking Programmable Thermostat lets users control the climate in their house with voice commands.
- Fijit Friends are interactive talking and dancing creatures that can recognize more than 30 keywords for interactive jokes and chatting and respond with more than 150 pre-programmed phrases.
- Hallmark’s Interactive story books come with a plush friend called StoryBuddy that listens while the story is read and intelligently interacts with the reader.
All of these products, and many others, use speech technologies from Sensory. Combined, they just might make talking technology the must have gift for 2011, and that would mean happier holidays for the entire industry.
