Toying with the singularity: AI, automata and imagination in play with robots and virtual pets

To grasp the emerging possibilities of new developments in the Internet of Toys, critical attention to the layered relationships of material technology and intangible imagination is needed. This chapter explores children’s imaginative and playful engagement with toys that demonstrate AI or autonomous behaviour (here robots and virtual pets). It takes a workshop on the design of a new robotic gaming platform as a central case study. Close descriptive and analytical attention to moments of interaction with such toys is essential to fully grasp the complex relationships between global technological imaginaries – in this case of AI and artificial life - and the material and embodied workings of imagination in play