 The 2012 Furby model; depicted is the Voodoo Purple version. | |
| Other names | Furbee (used in Sweden to avoid confusion with the eponymous place). |
|---|---|
| Type | Electronic toy |
| Inventor(s) | David Hampton and Caleb Chung |
| Company | Tiger Electronics (1998) Hasbro (1998–2001, 2005–2007, 2012–2018) |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | 1998–present |
| Slogan | The more you play with me, the more I do! I will keep amazing you! (1998–2001) Your emoto*tronic Friend (2005–2007) a mind of its own (2012), a new generation is hatching (Boom), Furby Connects You To A World Of Surprises (Connect) (2012–2018) |
| Official website | |
Furby is an American electronic robotic toy by Tiger Electronics. Originally released in 1998, it resembles a hamster or owl-like creature and went through a period of being a "must-have" toy following its holiday season launch. Over 40 million Furbies were sold during the three years of its original production, with 1.8 million sold in 1998, and 14 million in 1999. Its speaking capabilities were translated into 14 languages.
Furbies were the first successful attempt to produce and sell a domestically aimed robot. A newly purchased Furby, or a Furby that has been reset, starts out speaking entirely "Furbish," the unique language that all Furbies speak, but is programmed to start speaking English words and phrases in place of Furbish over time. This process is intended to resemble the process of learning English.[1]
The updated Emoto-Tronic Furby, with voice recognition and more complex facial movements, was sold by Hasbro between 2005 and 2007. Furby with black and white LCD eyes and a mobile app was released for the holiday season in 2012. Another updated Furby with color LCD eyes, known as Furby Connect was released in 2016. The last new generation was released in 2023.
- ^ Turkle, Sherry; Breazeal, Cynthia; Dasté, Olivia; Scassellati, Brian (September 30, 2004). "Encounters with Kismet and Cog: Children Respond to Relational Artifacts" (PDF). MIT. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 4, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2009.