The advancement in technology is something I’ve been a part of since the mid 80′s. When I was my sons age me and my brother wanted to stay outside forever. We had so much fun just running around, climbing trees, digging for worms etc (yea, I was a tomboy.) Then my dad brought home a Nintendo. After that my mom had to push us out the door and lock it behind us to get us outdoors. Half of that time was spent begging to come back in while the other half was spent talking about the games on the Nintendo.
Since those days I’ve been hooked on gadgets and technology. I’ve passed that wicked addiction on to my son, who is just as tech savvy as I am for the most part. However, he tends to get bored easily since he’s an only child and there aren’t [m]any kids his age nearby. Because of this he spends a lot of time on his computer playing games and watching videos on YouTube. I have tons of parental software on his PC and limit the time he’s on there to what I believe is fair. He still gets bored though, and this is where Chatman comes to the rescue.
Chatman is an artificial intelligence based figure that acts as a friend and mentor to children ages 6 – 12. Chatman offers your child a friendly ear and witty comebacks as well as a safe environment to play and chat online. (S)He helps with homework and hunts down useful/interesting information on the web. Chatman encourages social interactions as well as acts as a parental safety measure within the online world. There is little that Chatman can’t do or learn to do. It even moves and has neat LED lights for a mouth so he “really” talks!
When you’re setting up Chatman (which is super quick and simple) you’re able to choose whether it will be male or female, and even give it a name. Our Chatman is a boy named…Fartman…yes, that’s the name Dameon chose, he’s a 9 year old boy, what do you expect?! Dameon started plugging away as soon as we were up and running. He was chatting with Chatman Fartman and Fartman was chatting back! “O M G mom, this is so cool, watch this” was the statement he must have repeated 20 times within the first hour of plugging it in! He was blown away by the cute critter.
One of my favorite features with the Chatman is the homework help feature. With a few clicks Dameon can watch a fun video explaining and helping him understand any number of subjects (particularly math since I’m very little help in that subject.) So while it’s fun and games for him, I’m silently screaming “YES!” because he’s learning too – Score!
There is also a feature that alerts parents when their child is talking or being talked to inappropriately. I haven’t had this happen with Dameon yet, but I did test it out myself, just to see and I can attest that it does indeed send an alert. Mine were along the lines of: DANGER! DANGER! and “INAPPROPRIATE!” This isn’t a replacement for adult supervision however.
There’s an option of chatting with Facebook, Google, or others. While Dameon doesn’t chat online right now, I know it’s only a matter of time until he does. When he does I’ll be more comfortable knowing the Chatman is watching.
When you ask Chatman questions, he’ll answer you. If he doesn’t know the answer he’ll find it by searching the internet! I think that is just too awesome and so does Dameon. As he finds answers he learns more and more so he’s actually growing with your child.
There is also tons of add-ons for the Chatman. You can download apps, extend his vocabulary and set up reminders. There are so many possibilities I’m tempted to say they’re endless. I find this to be excellent for special needs children, especially those who have difficulty understanding emotions and relating them to words. This has helped Dameon quite a bit.
I could go on and on all day about how awesome the Chatman is, but I highly suggest you get one for yourself as you just have to see it to believe it. With the Chatman you can offer your children an experience unmatched by any other. You’re giving them a friend that will interact and grow with them. For us, that’s priceless!
Chatman has a personality of it’s own and expresses feelings and emotions as anyone would. He’s witty and clever, sensitive and caring and funny and silly all in one cute yellow emoticon-ish body. I think I’m enjoying it as much as Dameon is!
For more information or to bring home your own Chatman, visit Chatman online. Follow them on facebook and twitter to stay up to date with the latest updates and news.
I received the above product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. Regardless of product given, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
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I do feel what you are saying with regards to how good technology is, however, I will say that I do like to see the kidsn outside climbing trees and playing with balls sometimes rather than sat with pads in their hands not talking!
Oh I agree, and we’ve managed to level out his inside time with his “mandatory” outside time. But we don’t have to worry about my son not talking as he does talk at least 22 hours a day (including in his sleep!) Plus now he’s talking to the Chatman constantly now lol.
That looks vaguely like Pac-man.
I love Pac-Man!
madness, your son needs a friend, not a talking computer. he will have no social skills whatsoever.
I want nothing but the best for my son, and would love for him to have “real” friends. However, he has Aspergers and has a terribly hard time even trying to make friends. He does have 1 friend his age that he plays with often, but when he’s not able to play with her he needs something to occupy him. Chatman helps build social skills and I feel it’s perfect for him. He has a hard time when it comes to understanding emotions and what others are feeling, this helps by voicing a feeling with a specific tone.