Does anybody else remember when Smart Doll was a robotics project?

I found Smart Doll way back before Danny was selling them. Back when it was a robotics doll he planned to make and sell. 
 

I’m sad that will never be. But I love my girls no matter what. 
 

but anybody else remember that?!

Its occasionally brought up in the social media debacle thread.

 

When I was considering my first doll, I was a bit intimidated by the idea of DD customization and the process that goes along with it and was very drawn to the Smart Doll brand as an "out of the box" doll.  He hadn't totally abandoned the idea of robotics and integration and I remember really liking the idea.  When he cancelled the last piece of integration parts (a usb hub torso with a charging battery) I figured it was going away.  It's one of the many things that led to me customizing my first doll instead. 

3 hours ago, Psi said:

but anybody else remember that?!

It's safe to say that people remember that. Smartdolls are fine without robotics, but I do expect that someday we will have full sized anime themed androids in maid uniforms.

I predict that Hatsune Miku will become a fully realized mechanical diva dancing and singing onstage at some point in the future, and while some people will hate her, she will have a fan following to rival the biggest pop-stars.

Of  course, it was set to be huge thing having these smart dolls (no pun intended).

There were some vids at the time on YT which I can't find now showing similary sized robotic maid dancing bjds and possibly even a DD that were nothing short of mesmerizing, and the thought of being able to get your hands on a slice of that by bringing home smd was almost surreal. Come to think about it it might have been a merchandising tactic by DC to create expectations and boost the hype around his line of dolls.

It was supposed to be two of them: robotic and the "less expensive" or entry level one iirc. Then it turned out the animated one wasn't gonna be because the internal robotics and app couldn't be implemented the way he envisioned.

https://dannychoo.com/archive/en/posts/magical-mirai

On 7/5/2023 at 6:55 PM, puxlavoix said:

There were some vids at the time on YT which I can't find now showing similary sized robotic maid dancing bjds and possibly even a DD that were nothing short of mesmerizing, and the thought of being able to get your hands on a slice of that by bringing home smd was almost surreal. Come to think about it it might have been a merchandising tactic by DC to create expectations and boost the hype around his line of dolls.

 

Are you referring to YTer RozenZebet's animatronic dolls, perhaps? Here's a video with his Super Dollfie doing a Bad Apple choreography, and his newest video features a Dollfie Dream instead. He's more active on Twitter than on YouTube (I assume those videos take a long time to get right), and it's very interesting seeing his behind the scenes robotics posts.

 

Also to answer OP's post, yes I do remember that and I was super hyped for it. I was hoping for something that could be like a remote controlled action figure tbh, even if the "smart" part of the tech wasn't going to be fully implemented. It was a bit of a pipe dream, but can't blame a girl for dreaming anyway 😂

On 7/4/2023 at 1:12 PM, Psi said:

I found Smart Doll way back before Danny was selling them. Back when it was a robotics doll he planned to make and sell. 
 

I’m sad that will never be. But I love my girls no matter what. 
 

but anybody else remember that?!

I remember.. it's what first pulled me in to want one.  I am sad it never panned out but I love my girls regardless.  Would have been great for scaring people though if I'm being honest LOL

I remember his video with a Mirai that reacts and moves her arm. At that moment the small electro motor was not strong enough and I think from the design that temperature is an issue too. I still think it is possible to have some kind of robotic frame. When limiting the movements some kind of automatronic could also be created. Honestly I think that it works better with a 1/2 sized Smartdoll. 
The idea is still interesting even if it is dropped/frozen in the fridge/on hold currently by Danny. 

25 minutes ago, Rajke said:

Honestly I think that it works better with a 1/2 sized

The concept is already up and running even in 1/4 scaled stuff:

(extra points for having dancing queen in the background)

DancingDoll has a working demo from 2015 in SD size. Their frame's only drawback seems to be weighted and thus firmly planted feet. But they have a user interface that works off a game controller for motions.

Also I posted this in the social media thread awhile back:

this actually has a one legged stand at one point in a Obitsu-50 sized package. Which to me is pure witchcraft.

 

So its possible. Is it commercially viable? that depends.

One thing to see as a reference is how well that fully transforming Optimus prime toy works out in the long run, with its customizable motions, etc.

13 minutes ago, finnleo said:

The concept is already up and running even in 1/4 scaled stuff:

(extra points for having dancing queen in the background)

DancingDoll has a working demo from 2015 in SD size. Their frame's only drawback seems to be weighted and thus firmly planted feet. But they have a user interface that works off a game controller for motions.

Also I posted this in the social media thread awhile back:

this actually has a one legged stand at one point in a Obitsu-50 sized package. Which to me is pure witchcraft.

 

So its possible. Is it commercially viable? that depends.

One thing to see as a reference is how well that fully transforming Optimus prime toy works out in the long run, with its customizable motions, etc.

Sorry, missed the social media post. That is actually very cool and works way better than I imagined 

That is actually really cool. Their movements are so smooth. I didn't expect them to be like that. I'm sure they are only in the prototypes, so it'll probably be some time before anyone can acquire them.

I guess its no longer automatic mechanical dolls right? I also gave up Smart doll once i saw its no longer mechanical