Google wants to patent a cloud-connected device, maybe in the form of a toy bunny, that will look at whoever is speaking and will execute their voice commands, much like a creepier version of Amazon's cylindrical Echo voice assistant.
The patent for the anthropomorphic media assistant was drafted in 2012, but the application for it was only recently filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). Essentially, it sounds like a physical competitor to Apple's Siri or Microsoft's Cortana or Google's own OK Google voice search.
Google seeks to secure a patent for an "anthropomorphic device, perhaps in the form factor of a doll or toy, [that] may be configured to control one or more media devices," the application stated. "Upon reception or a detection of a social cue, such as movement and/or a spoken word or phrase, the anthropomorphic device may aim its gaze at the source of the social cue."
The patent application theorizes that the cloud-connected doll could be fitted with cameras and microphones to make eye contact with a person who is speaking, once a keyword catches the device's attention. Such exchanges could be used to control a media device, according to the application.
The filing indicates the company's vision of the product possibly taking on the appearance of a toy bunny or a teddy bear.
"Some users, especially young children, might find these forms to be attractive user interfaces," stated the application. "However, individuals of all ages may find interacting with these anthropomorphic devices to be more natural than interacting with traditional types of user interfaces."
A Google spokeswoman wouldn't state the company's intent for the patent, but said that the Mountain View, California company files patent applications for a "variety of ideas" that its employees come up with.
"Some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don't," the spokeswoman said. "Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patent applications."
The patent application lists Daniel Aminzade and Richard Wayne DeVaul as the inventors of the ideas. Aminzade is a Google software engineer and a nerdcore hiphop artist.
DeVaul, a former Apple employee, bears the title of director of Rapid Evaluation and Mad Science at the clandestine Google X division. He took the lead on Google X's Project Loon and now works in "a secret Google lab that may or may not be filled with roving robots, space elevators, and talking refrigerators," according to his website.
