I agree: The inner-cynic in me sees the insidious side to this, that childhood follies may be be even archived and data-mined for all eternity.<p>I digress, the thing that really jumped out at me:<p>&quot;according to a 2010 paper by Elena Smirnova, director of the Center of Play and Toys at Moscow State University, dolls that resemble humans are essential for the kind of role-playing that kids need to do to work through the events of their lives&quot;<p>I imagine this being lessened if the toy points parameters on the imagination. I know I played with action figures and placed them in pretty fantastical situations but it seems the cheapened by an electronic interaction governor. Perhaps it may enhance it but I&#x27;d wager its the former and not the later.