Toy Fair 2013: RoboFish Interview
If you've got a kid in your family who's desperate for his or her first pet, here's the clean and cheap alternative - a battery-operated robofish. We get fins-on with this new craze.
FrequencyCast - London Toy Fair 2013 Special Report (12 mins)
Check out our video version on YouTube: |
RoboFish Interview:
Transcript continues from Toy Fair 2013: Vtech Interview
Pete:
Toy Fair 2013, and we've been captured by a fish bowl, haven't we, Sarah?
Sarah:
We have - a fish bowl, with fish in it.
Pete:
And of course, a little Nemo cloud fish has caught your attention?
Sarah:
But it's not real!
Pete:
It isn't. This is an artificial fish, but I have to say, they look incredibly realistic. Now, I'm talking to Ben, who is the man behind the fish, if I have that right.
Ben:
So you're looking at a Robo Fish. A Robo Fish is the most lifelike robot fish on the market, and is currently taking the world by storm.
The big craze for 2013, the Robo Fish - Babelfish, anyone?
Pete:
Just talk us through the tech that's going on here?
Ben:
What we've got here is, it's micro-robotics, but what makes it really special is that it's water-activated. It's got two carbon switches - when you have a connection with one, nothing happens, but two, it'll activate, and obviously pop it in. It actually swims in five different directions, and how it does that is, it's actually got an electromagnetic coil, so it operates on a coil system, so it allows it to twist and turn, and swim in a different direction, and that's really what gives it the lifelike look.
Pete:
Excellent, well they are very very good, so I'm assuming you can use these in the bath, or do you have to have a special fish tank for them?
Ben:
No, they can be used anywhere, most regularly, probably, in the bath, or in the kitchen sink.
Pete:
These are new to the UK, is that right?
Ben:
They are. We're launching through Tobar and Hawkin's Bazaar currently, but we're going to be doing a big TV campaign over Easter, which will have national distribution.
Pete:
Wonderful, and what's the retail price going to be for these?
Ben:
It's going to be £10, or £9.99.
Pete:
That's not a bad price for a little fish like that, and this is the ideal maintenance-free pet is that right?
Ben:
Absolutely - no food, no mess.
Pete:
And there's some noise in the background, which you might be able to hear - that presumably is your Robo Fish jingle. How annoying is that?
Ben:
It's very annoying - it's very effective, I should say, because it has been very active in a lot of different markets, but no, it's certainly haunting me.
Pete:
Excellent. Ben, thank you very much - we look forward to these being the 2013 Christmas present.
So there we go - that's our look at Toy Fair 2013, and apparently it's 60 years of the Toy Fair. So Sarah, what have you found that's particularly excited you today?
Sarah:
Well, I liked some robotic fish that you just pop in, and watch them go. I loved the V-Tech Discovery Table, where you pop your iPad in, protected by a plastic screen, and let your baby run away with their imagination.
Pete:
I love some of the other stuff I saw here - a lot of use of virtual reality, and the stand with virtual reality fishing and shoot 'em up games was an awful lot of fun. Lots of models as well, lots of kids' models, lots of adult models - all sorts of Star Trek toys, inflatable R2D2s, all manner of exciting stuff. We'll be putting some photos and some video up on the website.
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