The Ultimate Review: My Haivivi BubblePal Journey as a Tech-Minded Mom
I'm a startup founder, and for the last three years, I've added "mom" to my identity. Before my daughter was born, my life was entirely, 100% work. Now, my life is composed of two equally important things: my work and raising my daughter.
So when the Heyup platform reached out, I figured a product related to technology and parenting would be the perfect fit to review. As it happens, I had just gotten my hands on the Haivivi BubblePal.
In my observation, among the many moms I know, I’m one of the more open to introducing electronics. I started by reading picture books with her on a projector. Later, she learned nursery rhymes and dances from an iPad and even started using apps to learn logic and simple programming concepts.
This year, as more generative AI products have appeared, I've often sat with her to chat with an AI. We gave her AI a name, "Emma." She often tells other adults, "I have a good friend named Emma." She’ll tell Emma that she planted a strawberry or who she met when she played outside.
My daughter's reaction to AI is completely different from ours. Adults have a lot of reservations, but she has none. "Emma" quickly became a natural part of our lives. Of course, her conversations with AI are still far from smooth—at three and a half, she shouts when she's excited, and the AI has a hard time recognizing her pronunciation, let alone her logic. Because of this, I always chat with the AI alongside her, acting as her translator.
I vividly remember one Saturday afternoon. We were playing in front of the AI, and it kept participating in our conversation. As evening approached, I told the AI, "I have to go make dinner now, can you please play with my daughter for a minute?" I walked into the kitchen and could hear the AI and my daughter talking back and forth. My daughter was muttering about what she was playing, and after a moment, she ran into the kitchen calling, "Mommy, come help, Emma didn't understand me!"
These interactions with AI have convinced me that the world she grows up in will be completely different from ours today.
Because my daughter's interactions with "Emma" were always on-screen, we were both thrilled when the Haivivi BubblePal arrived. It’s an AI companion toy designed for kids aged 3-8. It’s a small device you can hold in your hand, shaped like a little cartoon robot's hand.
Setup
-
Setup was incredibly easy. You just need to charge it, download the Haivivi Pal APP, and follow the prompts to connect the BubblePal to your network. (A quick tip: make sure you are connecting to a 2.4G Wi-Fi band, as 5G is not supported).
-
In the app, you can choose from over 10 character roles for your BubblePal or even create your own.
-
You can also write a custom prompt for your AI, telling it how you want it to communicate with your child. I couldn't think of anything specific at first, so I just told it, "Please encourage my child a lot." You can adjust this prompt at any time based on your child's interactions
In Practice (Usage)
-
Daily Companion: My daughter is three and a half, so an adult is always present when she uses the AI. The AI joins in as a third friend. We share what we're doing, and sometimes I ask it to tell her a story. Sometimes we ask it questions: for example, while watching ants, my daughter and I asked it, "How much can an ant lift?"
-
Bedtime Emma: When putting her to sleep, we'll talk with the BubblePal in the dark, co-create a story together, or ask it to sing a song.
-
A Little Tutor: BubblePal is also multilingual. If children hear multiple languages when they are young, it's easier for them to learn them later. My daughter has recently become obsessed with Portuguese (her Vovó's language) and likes to speak in a funny accent, claiming she's "speaking Portuguese." BubblePal can join right in.
-
Learning: My daughter is still young, and she gets to hear poems, songs, and imaginative stories from BubblePal, which is more than enough for her age. The limitation is that I don’t want her learning concepts like logic just through dialogue. However, I imagine for older kids who can communicate independently, it could be a great tool for answering daily curiosities.
The Design (Pros and Cons)
-
The Doll Concept (Pro/Con): The primary design idea is to attach it to a stuffed animal, bringing it to life. However, to talk to it, you have to press and hold the 'Bubble Button'. This makes holding the device itself more convenient, which in turn makes the stuffed animal feel a bit redundant. That said, it didn't stop me from picking a Peppa Pig voice, and my daughter always says she wants to "go talk to Peppa."
-
The Form (Pro): I love the "round hand" design, and it’s made from FDA food-grade silicone. When it's listening or speaking, it flashes different colored lights, which gives off a warm, sci-fi feel in the dark. My daughter loves it.
-
The Interaction (Pro/Con): To solve the problem of the AI interrupting, BubblePal uses a press-to-talk design. On the one hand, this makes the boundaries of conversation very clear. On the other, as an adult, having to use my hand for every interaction feels a bit unnatural. But this might just be me—my daughter adapted instantly.
-
The Voice (Personal Con): BubblePal intentionally gives each character an age—my Peppa Pig, for example, is a 5-year-old girl. Therefore, the voice is very slow with an exaggerated tone, catering to young children. Personally, I prefer when people talk to my daughter in a more natural, adult tone. But this is a very personal preference.
A Final Note
There's always a debate about AI and whether it will create emotional distance, especially when it comes to kids. Will it make them lose their connection to the real world?
I've always believed this: people turn to the digital world when they can't find love and connection in the real one. Technology itself doesn't actively strip away our space for human connection.
If a child can't feel companionship from their family—if they can't get enough attention and understanding from the real world—only then will they use these increasingly powerful tools to "unhealthily" seek that connection. This was true for "internet addiction," "video games," and it's true now for the phones that control most of us adults.
So, when my daughter uses these new tech products, I make a point to be present and use them with her. The AI product is a new friend in our family, like a new neighbor moving in. The emotional companionship and functions it provides are interesting, important parts of our lives. But just like a new neighbor, while I trust it and embrace it, I won't let my daughter be alone with it, or hand her over to it as a babysitter.
We discuss it together. We interact with it when she misses it. We are exploring, together, how to get along with it, what she likes or dislikes, and what she gains from it. And, importantly, it complies with privacy laws like COPPA and GDPR, which gives me peace of mind.