Boxed and wrapped in paper and bows, teddy bears have been placed lovingly underneath Christmas trees for generations, to the delight of tots and toddlers around the world. But the teddy bear is an American original: Its story begins with a holiday vacation taken by President Theodore Roosevelt. That day, more than a dozen people asked if they could buy the bear. Thinking they might need permission from the White House to produce the stuffed animals, the Michtoms mailed the original to the president as a gift for his children and asked if he’d mind if they used his name on the bear. Roosevelt, doubting it would make a difference, consented. Teddy’s bear became so popular the Michtoms left the candy business and devoted themselves to the manufacture of stuffed bears. Roosevelt adopted the teddy bear as the symbol of the Republican Party for the 1904 election, and the Michtoms would ultimately make a fortune as proprietors of the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. In 1963, they donated one of the first teddy bears to the Smithsonian Institution. It’s currently on view in the American Presidency gallery at the National Museum of American History.

It takes inspiration from some iconic bear characters including a popular toy in the 1980s called Teddy Ruxpin that would tell stories while making prerecorded robotic gestures and movements. This project was also inspired by the toy bear from the movie A.I., which was advanced robotic companion designed to provide love and comfort to a child.We do this by replacing the electronics inside with a Raspberry Pi 4, an Adafruit Motor HAT, and a couple of options for playing audio such as the MAX98357 I2S Amp and a Mini USB Speaker. The Raspberry Pi 4 will be running a custom Python script that interacts with multiple APIs including two from OpenAI and one from Azure. The Peek-A-Boo Teddy Bear by GUND is an affordable robotic bear that plays pre-recorded sounds. It has a motorized mouth to simulate talking and motorized arms that can lift a blanket to hide its face. By the spring of 1902, the United Mine Workers of America were on strike, seeking shorter workdays and higher wages from a coal industry that was suffering from oversupply and low profits. The mine owners had welcomed the strike because they could not legally shut down production; it gave them a way to save on wages while driving up demand and prices. This project combines the best of both worlds to create a robotic bear that not only tells stories, jokes, and poems, but also interacts with you using natural language processing powered by ChatGPT. This technology allows the bear to respond to questions and engage in conversations.

As a cavalryman for Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest during the Civil War, Collier knew the land well. He had also killed more than 3,000 bears over his lifetime. Longino enlisted his expertise because hunting for bear in the swamps was dangerous (which Roosevelt relished). “He was safer with me than with all the policemen in Washington,” Collier later said. When the president caught up with Collier, he came upon a horrific scene: a bloody, gasping bear tied to a tree, dead and injured dogs, a crowd of hunters shouting, “Let the president shoot the bear!” As Roosevelt entered the water, Collier told him, “Don’t shoot him while he’s tied.” But he refused to draw his gun, believing such a kill would be unsportsmanlike. One of the original teddy bears, donated by the Michtom family and on display at National Museum of American History. Photo: Smithsonian