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Show HN: AI toy I worked on is in stores

(www.walmart.com)
156 points Sean-Der | 9 comments | 12 Oct 25 14:15 UTC | HN request time: 0.41s | source | bottom

Alt link: https://mrchristmas.com/products/santas-magical-telephone

Video demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z7QJxZWFQg

The first time I talked with AI santa and it responded with a joke I was HOOKED. The fun/nonsense doesn't click until you try it yourself. What's even more exciting is you can build it yourself:

libpeer: https://github.com/sepfy/libpeer

pion: https://github.com/pion/webrtc

Then go do all your fun logic in your Pion server. Connect to any Voice AI provider, or roll your own via Open Source. Anything is possible.

If you have questions or hit any roadblocks I would love to help you. I have lots of hardware snippets on my GitHub: https://github.com/sean-der.

1. jaysonelliot ◴[14 Oct 25 02:20 UTC] No.45575581[source]▶
[flagged]
replies(6): >>45575797 #>>45575965 #>>45576079 #>>45576135 #>>45576369 #>>45576627 #
2. Sean-Der ◴[14 Oct 25 03:00 UTC] No.45575797[source]▶
Why?

I have had quite a bit of fun/bonding with my child over it https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45575175

3. stronglikedan ◴[14 Oct 25 03:31 UTC] No.45575965[source]▶
Kids have been communicating with "Santa" since forever. This is just another way to do the same - a modern "Santa Hotline". Nothing new under the sun.
4. mossTechnician ◴[14 Oct 25 03:50 UTC] No.45576079[source]▶
Watch as your child's eyes light up when Santa remembers their name, asks about their day, and responds to their wishes in real time.

$99 for 60 minutes of your child interacting with, their voice getting sent to Google. In a best case scenario, a parent who could already fill that role is standing by.

5. erxam ◴[14 Oct 25 04:00 UTC] No.45576135[source]▶
Mental how OP is showing it off so proudly.

Can't help but imagine some kid being shunted off to the side during Christmas with only this thing to talk to while their parents are much too busy drinking and listening to some esoteric tech/acc podcast.

replies(2): >>45576300 #>>45576323 #
6. timr ◴[14 Oct 25 04:33 UTC] No.45576300[source]▶
Or maybe it's something that parents can do with their children, since that's clearly the intent. It's also the convention for "letters to Santa" since...forever.

Honestly, it doesn't take much of a good faith effort to see this.

7. worik ◴[14 Oct 25 04:39 UTC] No.45576323[source]▶
Diamond Age: A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
8. HellDunkel ◴[14 Oct 25 04:49 UTC] No.45576369[source]▶
That’s because it is a sinister idea.
9. dang ◴[14 Oct 25 05:37 UTC] No.45576627[source]▶
"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html