Young children could be watched over by remote control teddy bears with swivelling heads that track every move, thanks to a research project from Microsoft. "Teddy" is a prototype bear of the future being developed in Microsoft"s US laboratories. It has stereovision eyes, built-in Wi-Fi and a microphone. Motion tracking and facial recognition technologies allows the bear to identify specific children and keep them under surveillance as they move around a room.
"In the future, computers won"t just live in your home office or on your desk at work," said a Microsoft spokesperson. "They will take on many different forms: the wall of your living room, your refrigerator door, or even your child"s stuffed animal. You won"t have to click a mouse or type on a keyboard to interact with your new computer; just touching, talking and moving will do the trick."