At a preview of what is to come at the 2009 Toy Fair, Mattel showed off a high tech toy that prints fashion designs right on little girls finger nails. Featuring more hi-tech bells and whistles than many printers, the new toy is something of a technological marvel. Here's how it works:
First, you stick a finger into the the device where a built in camera takes a picture of your unadorned nail. On your PC you then select a design and place it onto the image of your finger, sizing it so that it fits just right. Now, your finger goes back in the printer where it depresses the print button. In a matter of seconds the design you selected on the computer is now on your fingernail! To make a lasting, non-smudge design you're supposed to use an undercoat on your nail before printing and a clear top layer afterwards.
This isn't the first time Barbie has gone high tech, blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Barbie Fashion Designer empowered girls to design clothes for the dolls on the computer, view them modeled in 3D animations and then print them out on special ink-jet receptive fabric that could be assembled into real world dolls clothes. Next, Mattel shipped a digital camera that let girls put on "virtual" makeup and hair designs onto photos of themselves.
Now, in a move that will surely delight tech-savvy tweens, the Barbie and human experience mesh. As I watched a toy swallow my finger and paint a digital image onto my very real fingernail I had to wonder whether the Cylon/Human mythology of Battlestar Gallactica might have some basis in truth. Was I using this robot, or had I become a part of the toy?
