Tiger Electronics · Social · 1998
The 1998 Furby — an owl/hamster-like animatronic toy from Tiger Electronics (designed by Dave Hampton and Caleb Chung) that became a cultural phenomenon, selling over 40 million units in three years. About 11 inches tall in synthetic fur, it produced 300+ movement combinations — blinking eyes, wiggling ears, an opening beak and a rocking body — all from a single motor driven through a camshaft gear assembly, a clever cost-saving feat for its time. A 6502-class microprocessor with only 128 bytes of RAM ran everything. Light, sound and touch sensors (in a touch > sound > light hierarchy) plus a tilt sensor let it react to its environment, and an infrared port between its eyes let two Furbies 'talk'. It started out speaking only 'Furbish' (42 root words forming 300+ phrases) and appeared to 'learn' English through play — a simulated effect, not real machine learning.
Price level: ★☆☆☆☆
View full interactive profile, comparisons & videos → Check price on Amazon →| Category | Social |
| Sub-type | Animatronic Companion Toy |
| Status | Discontinued |
| Year | 1998 |
| Origin | USA |
| Actuator type | Single motor + camshaft (eyes, ears, beak, body) |
| Use cases | Interactive companion toy, Entertainment, Early social-robotics milestone |
| Made in | China |