- Realistic hair, skin and sounds of the wild.
- Fully animated features, interactive and communicative. Four distinctive moods: Happy, Playful, fearful and aggressive.
- Sonic sensors, touch sensors and infra-red vision.
- Remote Control and autonomous modes..
- Ages 8 and Up.
- The first electronic home entertainment product based on the principles of Hollywood special effects.
.com
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Doesn't everyone need an animatronic monkey bust? Well, okay,
it's not a matter of need, but, you must admit it's cool. Even
the phrase is cool. Wowwee Alive Chimpanzee is a programmable,
lifelike chimpanzee head and shoulders that will bewilder your
family, astound your friends and, most likely, frighten your
pets. Alive Mode allows you to interact naturally with the chimp
through its six sensors
Monkey Looks Good
It's so lifelike, in fact, that recent guests to my home did a
double-take when seeing it on my dining room table. It has latex
rubber skin that's colored, d, and speckled in very
realistic way and has big, brown, blood eyes. Its head and
shoulders are covered in synthetic monkey fur. Fine gray whiskers
jut out from its brow and chin. The only thing detracting from
this realistic chimpanzee likeness are two little sensors plugged
into its nostrils. More on that later.
Under the fur on its back is a little power switch. When powered
up, the Wowwee Alive Chimp looks around the room, shakes his head
in a very simian way, and gives up a chimp laugh. It is
reminiscent of the automatons at Disneyworld, but with more
modest whirs and clacks in place of the pneumatic hiss of the
Disneybots.
See No Evil, Hear No Evil
There are three basic ways to interact with the Wowwee Alive
Chimpanzee: alive, direct control, and program modes.
Sensors turn the chimp into a virtual pet that displays different
moods: curious, happy, fearful, and angry
In alive mode, the chimp reacts to stimulus received through
sensors in and about the head. Infrared "vision" sensors in his
nose detect movement, which make him track what's going on by
moving his head and eyes. Microphone "hearing" sensors in his
ears make him react similarly; a snap of your fingers on one side
of his head will make him twitch in that direction. His hearing
and vision is pretty limited to stimuli just inches away from his
face, though, so don't expect him to greet you when you come
through the door. There are also "touch" sensors under his chin
and on top of his head.
These sensors turn the chimp into a virtual pet that displays
different moods. His four programmed moods are curious (his
default mood when he's first switched on), happy, fearful, and
angry. You can elicit different moods with different actions.
Petting the top of his head and/or rubbing under his chin will
put him in a happy mood. Waving things in front of his face or
making loud noises next to his ear will put him into a fearful or
angry mood (for the record, I'm the same way). Unless your a
primatologist, you'll likely find the distinction between his
happy and angry moods to be subtle. He moves his eyes and face
and makes chimp noises. Without arms and hands to fling, uh,
food, his mood is not so immediately clear.
Direct Control Mode allows you to operate the chimp like a
puppetRemote Control Puppeteering
Direct control mode lets you operate the monkey with the
included remote control. Anyone who has played a video game
system in the last 10 years will be instantly familiar with the
remote's thumbstick design. Toggle buttons on the shoulders of
the remote simplify the many different control elements into a
simple design. For example, in one toggle position, the left
thumbstick moves the jaw, and in the other position, it moves the
eye lids. Control mode essentially turns the chimp into a puppet.
The remote also has six buttons that, when used with the toggles,
can go through preprogrammed animations of his moods.
The Wowwee Chimp can make a wide variety of gestures. His head
can nod up and down and turn from side to side. His eyes can move
similarly, and his eyelids can close and open. His mouth can
close and open, but his lips don't move, which is a little
disappointing. I'd be a lot more excited about the programming
feature if I could teach him to lip sync to a Britney Spears
song.
Program Mode permits the user to store a routine of the chimp's
movements and sounds up to 20 steps long. This is easy and fun to
do, though you can only store one program at a time. Setting the
monkey into Guard mode will make him respond to stimulus by
executing the program steps you've put in.
One consideration for the Wowwee Alive Chimpanzee is where in
your home does he belong? I suggest on top of the piano. After
all, as the Three Stooges taught us, music soothes the savage
beast. --Porter B. Hall
From the Manufacturer
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Chimpanzee Facetronics - Life size chimpanzee head and neck!