Oh, patents! Purrble™

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Precipitated by a concern for the increased stress that children were experiencing during long lockdown periods, within the context of the COVID 19 pandemic, Purrble™, masterminded by Sproutel Inc., in collaboration with the Committee for Children®, is an animatronic toy, designed to teach children how to self-regulate their emotions. As for the previous Sproutel Inc., toys, such as Jerry the Bear®, targeting children with Type 1 diabetes, and My Special Aflac Duck®, designed for children undergoing cancer treatment, the researched idea, informing the design of the toys, is that, if children are able to care for their special toys, they will not only learn about the ailments that they share with their toys, they will better understand their own treatments, and be able to better cope, with less fear, and anxiety.

With Purrble™, this means learning how to soothe-down-to-a-purr the racing heartbeat of a small, plush, koala-looking toy, called the Purrble™. The assumption is that the experience of soothing Purrble™ will assist children in calming their own emotions. Different from Jerry the Bear® and My Special Aflac Duck®, Purrble™ was designed to be used mostly at home, or at school, outside of medical and hospital contexts. The “live animal” boxes in which Purrbles™ are packaged were even conceived for possible use as little play beds or houses for the plush toy. Made of cardboard, the boxes can also be decorated.  But Purrble™ is much more than a battery-operated plush toy.

With sensors responsive to both calming caress, or fidgeting, coupled to internal controllers for vibration of the accelerating or decelerating heartbeat, and a speaker to produce purring sounds, and simple grunts, sighs and giggles, Purrble™ falls well within the scope of the far more complex animatronic toys, designed and patented by Sproutel Inc., in collaboration with companies such as The American Family Life Assurance Company (AFLAC). In any event, much like its predecessors in the medical domain, Purrble™ took the market by storm, enchanting the 3+ crowd, cooped up in lockdowns with emotions on edge, while promising that potential gains in emotional regulation are “a determinant of lifelong success, being linked to improved graduation rates […]”. (About Purrble™)

Below, an image is included of the cute marketed Purrble™ products, no two of which are completely alike. Also included, a short YouTube video, featuring Sproutel Inc., founder and CEO, Aaron Horowitz, and Kate Gallo, Consultant for Product Management at the Committee for Children®. 

Time Magazine selected the Purrble™ as one of the 100 best inventions of 2021.

 

References 

Committee for Children® https://www.cfchildren.org/

Purrble™ https://www.purrble.com
https://www.purrble.com/about.html

Sproutel Inc. https://www.sproutel.com/

Time Magazine – The 100 best inventions of 2021. Keeping Kids calm: Sproutel Purrble™.

https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2021/6113137/purrble/

Oh, patents! My Special Aflac Duck® (1)

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

My Special Aflac Duck®, a plush, Bluetooth®-connected social robot, masterminded by Sproutel Inc., was designed to help small children express their feelings, when they are undergoing cancer treatment. Children simply select one of several emoji cards that best matches the way they are feeling (sad, calm, scared, sick, silly…), and hold it up for the Aflac Duck® to see (and scan). The Aflac Duck® then responds to the feeling (in duck language), also moving its beak and head.

In addition to facilitating communication in families, coping with the new normal of a cancer diagnosis, the Aflac Duck® also has a series of medical play accessories for simulated activities. For example, medical play accessories include: a pulse oximeter, a syringe, a stethoscope, and a connected IV play set, enabling children to attach a port-o-cath accessory, in order to treat the duck with chemotherapy. As for previous Sproutel pediatric toys, such as Jerry the Bear™, which offers pediatric patients an opportunity to practice mastering the simulated medical procedures associated with the treatment of Type 1 diabetes, the assumption informing the design of the company’s toys is that, in caring for their toy, children also learn to understand their own disease and treatment. Thus, Sproutel toys offer an educational experience, delivered without a curriculum. An educational experience intended to be fun, designed to comfort, and to reduce fear and anxiety.

Beyond facilitating communication, and offering simulated medical play experiences, related to the treatment of cancer, the Aflac Duck® comprises the following additional features and functions:

• Removable fur, so that the Aflac Duck®’s coat is machine-washable. 
• Sensitivity to surroundings, such as for example, sensitivity to dark, which prompts the Aflac Duck® to quieten down; or sensitivity to music, which prompts the Aflac Duck® to dance. 
• Sensitivity to touch, which prompts the Aflac Duck® to respond to tickling. The Aflac Duck® also has a heartbeat that children can feel.
• Additional food accessory cards, with which children can also prepare a meal for their special toy. In this case, the accessory food cards are held up to the Aflac Duck®’s beak for pretend feeding (and scanning). 
• Soothing Soundscape™ card accessories, enabling to transport children, with music, to places like the forest, or the ocean. 
• Finally, a wake-up function, considering that when the Aflac Duck® is tired, it naps, and is awakened when children squeeze its tail.

The various aspects of the Aflac Duck® invention are recited in three concurrent US utility patent applications. For example the US utility patent application US20190209933A1, titled Child's Toy with Removable Skin recites the machine-washable aspect as the duck's coat, whereas the US utility patent application US20190209935A1, titled Animatronic toy recites the movement of the robotic toy, and the US utility patent application US20190209932A1, titled User Interface for an Animatronic Toy, recites interactions between the toy, its users, another Aflac Duck®,  and/or a Bluetooth®-connected mobile device. 

Below, the patent Figures 1 and 2, extracted from the user interface patent application, US20190209932A1, together with an image of the embodied toy, marketed as My Special Aflac Duck®. Specifically, the Figures 1 and 2 respectively depict the duck, with and without its skin. The Figure 1 drawing shows the animatronic toy embodied as a duck 100, comprising eyes 110, a beak 115, wings 120 and feet 125, as well as a sensor 130, which may be of various sorts, causing the duck to respond in a variety of ways. 

The Figure 2 drawing of the toy 100, with skin removed, further depicts the various sorts of sensors, comprising in particular five capacitive sensors 200, located on the duck's wings, side of the head, and back. Once activated the capacitive sensors 200 are designed to cause the duck to vibrate, using one of more vibration motors located within the duck, and/or to make nuzzling sounds like a pet. Two button sensors 210 are also depicted, which are used respectively to wake the duck from sleep or nap, and to trigger or detect a Bluetooth® connection, or interaction, with another toy. The vibrational speaker 230, on top of the duck's head, also enables the duck to vibrate, and to respond to the emoji cards. A radio frequency ID (RFiD) sensor 225, located on the chest of the toy, enables the duck to read and detect the RFiD tagged emoji cards 400, brought in contact with the sensor. Once detected, the RFiD sensor 225 triggers a program, which will cause the duck to respond. For example, the duck might giggle, when contacted with a tagged happy emoji card. Alternatively, the duck might cry, when contacted with a sad emoji card.

The abstract for the user interface patent application US20190209932A1, is included below. 

An animatronic doll is disclosed. The doll, includes multiple sensors, one or more of which receives input which causes the doll to perform various functions such as moving, vibrating, playing music, eating, interacting with a mobile app or interacting with another doll. The doll also includes various modes which may be effected or selected based on input from one or more sensors. One of the sensors may include an rfid reader which reads cards that instruct the doll to emulate a particular emotion.

My Special Aflac Duck® was selected by Time Magazine as one of the 50 best inventions in 2018. The toy also received numerous additional accolades (1). Most importantly, the insurance company Aflac distributes My Special Aflac Duck®, free-of-charge, to children diagnosed with cancer.

Note

(1) My Special Aflac Duck® won four awards at the 2018 Computer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas (CES 2018): Best of CES 2018 Award in the category of Best Unexpected Product; Best of CES 2018 in the Tech for a Better World category; Best of CES 2018 in the Best Accessibility Tech category; and Best of CES 2018 in the Robotics or Drone category. My Special Aflac Duck® also won a top 2019 SXSW Award in the Robotics and Hardware category. 

References

My Special Aflac Duck®.

https://aflacchildhoodcancer.org/myduck.cfm

My Special Aflac Duck® - User Manual.

https://fccid.io/2AN6HF7E2/User-Manual/User-manual-3928070.pdf (pdf version)

My Special Aflac Duck® Takes Home Best of CES 2018 Award. 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/my-special-aflac-duck-takes-home-best-of-ces-2018-award-300581870.html

My Special Aflac Duck® wins 'Tech for a Better World Award'. (@CES 2018)

https://bunewsservice.com/special-aflac-duck-wins-tech-better-world-award/

My Special Aflac Duck® wins big at SXSW.

https://investors.aflac.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2019/My-Special-Aflac-Duck-Wins-Big-at-SXSW/default.aspx

Sproutel Inc. https://www.sproutel.com/

Ten best Robots of CES 2018.

https://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/events/10-best-robots-of-ces-2018/ 

This robot therapy duck comforts kids with cancer. 

https://www.engadget.com/2018-01-08-robot-therapy-duck-comforts-kids-with-cancer.html

Time Magazine – A companion for kids with Cancer, 50 Best invention 2018. 
https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2018/5454382/my-special-aflac-duck/

Oh, patents! Jerry the Bear™ (2)

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Sproutel’s original 2012 Jerry the Bear™ pediatric toy was awarded a US design patent.  As a reminder, a US design patent covers the ornamental properties of an invention. In other words, a design patent protects the way an invention looks, in contrast to how an invention works, which is protected in a utility patent. The US design patent, USD714884S1, titled Educational doll for children with chronic illness, was awarded on Oct. 7, 2014.

Below, the extracted patent Figure 1 drawing of the educational doll, embodied as a bear, together with an image of the earlier marketed Jerry the Bear™ toy. Both the patent Figure 1, and the image of the marketed bear, display the bear’s Glucopal, a small screen on the bear’s belly, through which children interact, to the play with Jerry the Bear™. 

Ten food cards are visible in front of the marketed image of the bear. Food cards, which the children hold up to the bear’s snout for feeding (i.e., scanning). Before feeding the bear, children organize the food cards into snacks and meals, counting “dot” carbs’. Each carb dot is equal to a dot of insulin, required before the bear snacks or has lunch. The bear’s insulin pen is also visible on the image of the marketed bear. Children use the insulin pen for supplying insulin at the bear’s marked injection sites, on arms and legs. Glucose testing is performed by squeezing the bear’s finger buttons. Glucose test results are then displayed on the Glucopal, for interpretation of blood sugar levels (i.e., hyper- or hypo- glycemic, plus variations). 

Jerry the Bear™ also has tickle spots on his ears, and secret tickle spots on his back. The Figure 1 patent drawing shows the ear tickle spots, the finger glucose testing buttons, the triangle leg injection sites, and foot pads, with "dotted lines' to indicate that the US design patent does not cover these aspects of the invention. Tickle spots, marked injection sites, together with the many functional aspects of the invention, briefly mentioned above, including the game storylines that provide coherence to playing with Jerry the Bear™, are all covered in US utility patents.

References

Sproutel Inc. https://www.sproutel.com/

Jerry the Bear™ Quick Start Guide

https://www.jerrythebear.com/assets/jerry-quick-guide.pdf