It’s either an ingenious toy that will help foster your kid’s love of science and propel them to a full ride at MIT, or it’s one of the creepiest robots that resembles Albert Einstein ever invented. Your call. Either way, it’s killing it on Kickstarter.
For kids who want their companion droids to be less adorable R2D2 and more crazy-haired German theoretical physicist, Professor Einstein is a pint-sized (14.5-inch tall) animatronic robot that not only teaches science, but walks, talks, and moves like the late great Albert Einstein ⏤ right down to sticking out his tongue and furrowing his brow. He’s like a cross between Yoda and Einstein when you think about it, except instead of teaching kids about The Force, he explains the theory of relativity. He also tells jokes about protons if you ask nicely.
Designed as part science tutor part ‘bot-BFF, Professor Einstein makes over 50-plus lifelike gestures and facial expressions and can even recognize speech. Which means your kid can either fire questions at him à la Alexa or just engage in deep philosophical conversations about life, macaroni & cheese, and Kidz Bop. Using built-in Wi-Fi and the Stein-O-Matic app, he also specializes in “Edu-tainment” (education and entertainment, naturally) and can launch interactive science and math brain games for kids on an iPad or Android tablet.
Finally, he has a built-in calendar to help Junior stay organized (Truth: Kids do their homework when Albert Einstein tells them to!), gets about three hours of battery life before needing a recharge, and can even tell you what the weather is like outside. Either at home, or you know, on campus at MIT.
(Pre-order for April 2017)