Virtual reality dolls thrill children, disturb parents

Does the latest techno doll capture imaginations or hold them hostage? CATHERINE MASTERS reports.

Just about everything about the Diva Starz dolls depends on your world view.

They have big melting/vacant eyes, big hair, trendy wardrobes and annoying/endearing computerised American accents with a giggle that literally lights up their lips.

They embrace stereotypes - the blond one is obsessed with her clothes and her hair - or they reflect the interests of young girls. They use clever marketing techniques - or "tacky" advertising.

Whatever you think, at $100 each they also have big price tags. Nikki, Summer, Alexa and Tia are the next big thing to hit toy outlets. Mattel sells them separately but says that because the dolls talk to each other girls will want to buy the lot.

The marketing of these "Diva Starz" is pretty cool-errific (a Diva Star term, like fab-a-licious) - one, for example, apparently asks for a vest she does not come with.

The party of four, with oversized heads, tiny bodies and huge feet come from the makers of the immortal Barbie.

They play games via their CD Rom technology, such as Minute Makeover, the Fashion Guessing Game and the Hairdressing Game. They talk on mobile phones and tell secrets and were the most popular girls' toy in the United States last year.

But some adults recoil in horror and the dolls do beg a lot of questions.

Are they really airheads obsessed with clothes and hair? If so, are they bad role models for children?

Will they contribute to future cases of anorexia? Do they stunt the development of your child's imagination?

Or are they fantastic because they introduce children to the ever-changing world around them, extending their learning in new and dynamic ways?

Mary Bagby is a play specialist who knows her toys. The Auckland woman, formerly of America, has sold toys, is a teacher and early childhood educator and has worked in medical play.

Her first impulse as a parent on sighting a Diva Star doll was "Oh my God."

She has since studied the dolls and watched children interact with them. While her initial reaction stands, she says she retains an open mind about these dolls, and other cutting edge toys still to come.

For a start, girls love them. Boys also are intrigued and, she says, over the next 20 years, virtual reality will become available at a common price, so maybe we should get used to it.

While she worries, her 12-year-old says "lighten up" because the dolls are fun.

But their marketing, she calls "tacky".

"Get this, they do this kind of subliminal marketing because they say let's have a party for Summer. Now this is between two other dolls, so they're asking for a third doll."

Mattel New Zealand group brand manager Catherine Harvey denies there is subliminal advertising.

Instead, she says, the advertising communicates the basic play patterns of the dolls. A girl can interact with the doll on her own, or the dolls can interact and the girl can play with a friend who has a doll.

Mary Bagby says the dolls' appropriateness for girls aged 5 to 10, depends on the child. "My own prejudices are that I enjoy kids that can take a piece of cloth and turn it into a cape and turban and this and that. If it's that kind of kid I wouldn't mind, I wouldn't worry about them ... "

She would be concerned, however, about a child whose only stimulation was toys like the dolls.

The debate about whether dolls are healthy role models took place when Barbie, with her long, blond hair and hour-glass figure, stormed into bedrooms around the world.

"It's the what in the hell are you telling little girls debate. The plus side of it is that it is a young girl's ticket into the glamorous world of the model with the feather boas and stuff that they will never, ever have and they know they will never have it."

At least, in the old days they knew they would never have it. Today is different.



"Nowadays with your anorexia and your hair extensions and your barbie doll parties and your implants, suddenly that is possible, so it is a concern of mine."

Catherine Harvey says the dolls are not stereotyped. Their play patterns are based on four general areas of interest to girls - sport, the environment and animals, technology and fashions. They speak in a language girls can understand, she says.

"The hair or skin colour of the dolls is not directly related to their personality characteristics."

Mary Bagby says the dolls tell secrets. One she heard was "I'm afraid of spiders."

Does that encourage children to be afraid of spiders? Maybe, maybe not, says Mary Bagby.

"See, there are two sides to each thing that they [the dolls] do. They will say that these are issues that kids think of and there are many kids out there that are afraid of the dark and are afraid of spiders.

"So is it reinforcing it, or is it sharing with them a common problem ... "

The children don't care either way, she says. They were fascinated by the flashing lips and loved that a doll would tell them "Ow, stop pulling my hair."

Catherine Harvey says all the dolls' play and speech has been designed to relate to girls with attitude and personality traits familiar to girls.

Mary Bagby says the big head, big feet, tiny body look comes from the Hollywood "lollipop syndrome" - giant heads and tiny little bodies.

But Catherine Harvey says they are based on the popular "Anime" look from Japan and are not generated from any real body images. They are designed to look "out of this world". As for their big feet - they accommodate their infra-red sensors and batteries, and are an anchor weight.