Elemental Path Announces CogniToys, First Toys Powered by IBM Watson, Offering a Fully Interactive and Personalized Play

Smart toy and technology developer Elemental Path today announced their new line of connected toys, CogniToys, which evolve alongside children as they learn and grow. The first toy powered by cognitive computing system IBM Watson, Elemental Path launched its Kickstarter campaign for CogniToys on February 16th to raise $50 thousand for continued product development and distribution.
CogniToys will bring a new gateway of smart, entertaining and interactive learning experiences to kids in the digital age. They combine the Elemental Path friendgine, a proprietary platform that supports full speech recognition, with IBM Watson's cognitive computing and natural language processing capabilities. Highlight features of the first CogniToy—a mini dinosaur—include:

• Initiates and Engages in Real Conversations -- Full speech recognition allows CogniToys to sustain engaging conversations with intelligent, age-appropriate content
• Uniquely personalized -- Adapts by remembering individual attributes (e.g. a child's favorite color), even telling knock-knock jokes and providing answers to "who," "why," "where" and "when" questions
• Integrated Parent Panel -- A cloud-based connected dashboard that allows parents to monitor their child's progress in real time, providing unique insights into learning skills and interests through actual data, as well as moderation of content (in turn, all data is anonymized and never shared without parental consent)
• Internet connected -- CogniToys are internet connected devices, allowing them to automatically update and evolve alongside your child as they learn and grow

"Our goal is to provide toy companions that combine the promise of today's digital innovations with the curiosity implicit in play," said Donald Coolidge, co-founder, Elemental Path. "By integrating Watson, the most advanced AI in the world, with our advanced capabilities, we're bringing a first-of-its-kind product to consumers. We're poised to break into the toy market while aiming to inspire learning and interaction as kids make discoveries about the world around them."
Best suited for children aged four to seven, Elemental Path's first CogniToys will be available for pre-order via Kickstarter for $99.99.

Elemental Path is an IBM Business Partner and active member of the Watson Developer Cloud community, where it continues to explore new, creative ways to apply cognitive computing technologies to transform industries and professions.

For more information, please visit www.elementalpath.com.

To donate to Elemental Path's Kickstarter, please visit the company's CogniToys campaign.

About CogniToys

The next generation of smart toys that learn and grow with each child, CogniToys are a new gateway to smart, fun and interactive learning for children in the digital age. Harnessing the power of IBM Watson, all CogniToys are internet-connected and speech-enabled to deliver highly personalized, engaging play experiences. CogniToys are designed, developed and manufactured by interactive technology developer Elemental Path, based in New York. For more information, visit www.elementalpath.com.

IBM Watson: Pioneering a New Era of Computing

IBM Watson is a cognitive computing system that uses natural language processing, machine learning and advanced analytics to process information in a manner that is similar to the way people think. The company is investing $1 billion into the Watson Group, focusing on development and research and bringing cloud-delivered cognitive applications and services to market. This includes $100 million available for venture investments to support IBM's ecosystem of start-ups and businesses building cognitive apps made with Watson.

For more information on IBM Watson, including Watson Academic Initiatives and Watson Ecosystem, please visit http://ibm.co/1AAA0fo.