WikiBear Cruises Internet To Become Your Child’s Creepy New Best Friend, But You Might Want One Too

I have loved teddy bears all of my life, but I really didn't develop an appreciation of them until I was an adult. Now I have hundreds of them, many of which I inherited from my mom's collection, when she passed away. And no, I don't have them all out on display. Yes, I will still occasionally cuddle with one when I am feeling blue, in particular my Rocky Mountain Polar Puff bear named Henry. He has absorbed more tears than a pallet-load of Kleenex.

There have been famous teddy bears, like Smokey the Bear, Seth McFarlane's blasphemous creation "Ted", winsome Winnie-the-Pooh, (a personal favorite), and- - the list is a long and fuzzy one. Today I came across a story about a new and somewhat creepy new stuffed creature called "WikiBear". It will probably be on many children's wish lists for next Christmas.

"WikiBear" syncs to your mobile device using Bluetooth and the WikiBear app will search the internet for answers to your children's questions. It even has a filter to make sure the questions and answers are child appropriate. The more it is played with, the more it gets to know its owner. It will remember names, tell jokes, check on the weather for you and more.

When I watched it in action, I was reminded of Steven Spielberg's somber, futuristic, sci-fi movie, "A.I. (Artificial Intelligence). Haley Osment played an android child named David who was programmed to love, just as a real child would. Teddy, a robotic teddy bear befriends David and becomes a sort of eerie guardian angel.Through a series of unfortunate, sad twists and turns, David is abandoned by his parents in the forest with only Teddy, as a companion. It probably won't surprise you to know this doesn't end well.

I had a lot of talking dolls when I was little, but none of them cracked wise and knew my favorite color. Come to think of it, maybe I need one of these "Wiki" fellows!