The history of interactive talking dolls is quite colorful. The first recorded children’s toy doll was Edison’s Phonography Doll. It was developed by Edison Phonograph Toy Manufacturing Company and introduced to the market in 1890. The Edison Phonograph Toy Manufacturing Company was founded by William W. Jacques and Lowell Briggs in 1887.

An interesting fact about the original doll is that Thomas Edison invented it in 1877. The doll was 22-inches and featured a removable phonograph that played a single nursery rhyme.

Dishearteningly, the Edison Talking Doll was a commercial failure with it being marketed for a few weeks in early 1890. The main issue with the doll was that you had to crank a handle each time you wanted it to play. In addition to this issue, another issue that plagued it was the ring-shaped wax records which wore out quickly and were prone to warping and cracking.

Ask Amy Modern Interactive Talking Doll

Talking baby dolls have come a long way since then. The latest and greatest so far is Ask Amy. The adorable 22-inch doll is so much more than a regular doll. She can make lifelike movements with her moving lips, blinking eyes, head movements and so on. In addition to this, she’s able to stimulate interaction with children and promotes self-esteem and empathy.

Modern technology has resulted in the birth of the intelligent Ask Amy who’s able to respond to 12 verbal prompts to answer questions, provide words of inspiration as well as motivate a baby or a toddler to sing along or recite lots of poetry.

As you can see, interactive talking dolls have come a long way since then. Ask Amy was used as an example because the doll is as high tech and impressive as modern interactive talking dolls go.

Watch more Ask Amy videos at our YouTube Channel.