Another innovative wave of toys uses bio-technology. Snubelgrass Interactive, a recent toyco startup with offices in Israel and New York headed by Alysia Sagi-Dolev, has developed such a toy called Snubelgrass.

Sagi-Dolev, who holds a doctorate in biomedical engineering, developed the egg-like product to marry high-tech toys with features designed to help children learn about genetics and nurturing. The egg, which contains sensors and chips, emits a purring sound while gestating and must be held in order to hatch. The shell is transparent so the child can see the Snubelgrass fetus before it emerges. It will be available at retail this spring, with the initial launch targeting specialty markets in the U.S.

Sagi-Dolev says the toy uses bio-interactive play, which means ‘using signals from the body, be it touch or other parameters’ to interact with the toy. She sees a whole new set of high-tech toys based on this concept, toys that are able to react to a child’s human responses and respond accordingly-for example by increasing or decreasing its volume.