You may have been lucky if you failed to buy a Furby, the interactive robot
that was the hottest toy at Christmas. The squawking, whirring gremlin is
driving parents to distraction. Some have retaliated by taking apart the
animatronic annoyance. At www. phobe.com/furby, Jennifer Sparks and Lars
Norpchen describe how they peeled the fur off a Furby and explored its gearing
and circuitry (don鈥檛 try this at home, kids). But be warned鈥攖he site
includes chillingly clinical Furby autopsy photos. Say Sparks and Norpchen: 鈥淲e
find him much more amusing dead than he was alive.鈥�
At www.homestead.com/hackfurby, John Tokash has gone further, with a site
which is devoted to uncovering the toy鈥檚 inner workings. He has drawn up
detailed schematics and has begun to figure out the electronics, despite the
fact that the custom chips that govern a Furby鈥檚 behaviour are sealed under a
blob of epoxy resin.
Tokash鈥檚 site also provides a helpful chart of what various infrared remote
controls will make a Furby do鈥攆or instance, hitting the power button on a
Daewoo remote will make it sneeze. A WebTV universal remote can get it to sing
鈥淭winkle, Twinkle Little Star鈥�. You can also find out how to elicit 鈥渉idden鈥�
behaviours with the right combinations of pats and tickles.
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Taking Furbies apart may be fun for some, but putting them together seems
to be much less enjoyable. The New York Post has revealed the poor pay
and conditions of Furby workers in at least one Chinese factory. It alleges that
those who help make thousands of them each day earn only half the retail price
of one toy in a month. You鈥檒l find the report at www.nypost.com/news/8183.htm.
On a brighter note, one of the striking things about the Furby is the fact
that children show a remarkable ability to learn its language, Furbish, in order
to talk to it. Who knows? Maybe the technology will one day be harnessed to
teach real languages.
