Zowie Intertainment
{{Short description|Toy company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Zowie Intertainment|
| type = Subsidiary|
| industry = Smart toy|
| fate = Acquired by Lego|
| successor =
| founded = 1998|
| founder = {{plainlist|
- Philippe P. Piernot
- Amy Francetic
- Allan Alcorn{{Cite web |url=https://www.cs.sjsu.edu/~mak/SpeakerSeries/flyers/AllanAlcorn.pdf|title=Allan Alcorn: Video Games as a Driver of Computing Technology|date=5 October 2011 |access-date=2023-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628110511/https://www.cs.sjsu.edu/~mak/SpeakerSeries/flyers/AllanAlcorn.pdf|website=San Jose State University, The Department of Computer Science and The Department of Computer Engineering |archive-date=2023-06-28 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://mediax.stanford.edu/event/tales-of-the-creation-of-the-video-game-industry/|title=Tales of the Creation of the Video Game Industry|date=30 May 2017 |access-date=2023-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702071927/https://mediax.stanford.edu/event/tales-of-the-creation-of-the-video-game-industry/|website=Media X at Stanford University |archive-date=2023-07-02 |url-status=live }}
}}
| parent = Lego (2000-Present)
| footnotes = |
}}
Zowie Intertainment was a smart toy research company founded in 1998 by a group of engineers from Interval Research Corporation that focused on applying various computer and sensor technology research to smart toy development.{{Cite web |url=https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2012/09/102658257-05-01-acc.pdf|title=Oral History of Allan (Al) Alcorn |date=23 May 2008 |access-date=2023-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628073704/https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2012/09/102658257-05-01-acc.pdf|archive-date=2023-06-28 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.si.edu/media/NMAH/NMAH-AC1498_Transcript_AllanAlcorn.pdf|title="Allan E. Alcorn" Transcript of an interview conducted by Christopher Weaver|date=26 May 2011 |access-date=2023-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628074321/https://www.si.edu/media/NMAH/NMAH-AC1498_Transcript_AllanAlcorn.pdf|archive-date=2023-06-28 |url-status=live }} In 2000, toy design and manufacturing firm Lego acquired ownership of Zowie Intertainment as part of their smart toy division.{{Cite web |url=https://www.toymania.com/news/messages/403.shtml|title=LEGO Company To Acquire Zowie Intertainment|date=4 May 2000 |access-date=2023-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628074039/https://www.toymania.com/news/messages/403.shtml|archive-date=2023-06-28 |url-status=live }}
Zowie Intertainment primarily relied on embedding proprietary RF sensors and recognition technologies in physical toys such as plastic figurines to create different game play and interaction experiences that could also be interfaced via a computer screen.{{Cite web |url=https://www.geocities.ws/piernot/proj/zowie/index.html|title=Zowie Playsets, Demos, Patents|access-date=2023-06-28 }}
History
In 1998, Zowie Intertainment was initially spun-off from Interval Research Corporation by Philippe P. Piernot, Allan Alcorn, and Amy Francetic among others.{{Cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/03/11/al-alcorn-interview|title=Al Alcorn Interview|date=13 May 2012 |access-date=2023-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628073837/https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/03/11/al-alcorn-interview|archive-date=2023-06-28 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/games/how-curiosity-keeps-pong-creator-al-alcorn-on-the-innovation-path-interview/|title=How curiosity keeps Pong creator Al Alcorn on the innovation path (interview)|date=20 July 2013 |access-date=2023-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628074513/https://venturebeat.com/games/how-curiosity-keeps-pong-creator-al-alcorn-on-the-innovation-path-interview/|archive-date=2023-06-28 |url-status=live }}
Zowie Intertainment’s portfolio of proprietary sensing and recognition technologies was called the Zowie Power. Zowie Intertainment released smart toy playsets such as Ellie’s Enchanted Garden and Redbeard's Pirate Quest, play-sets that merged playing with plastic figurines with interacting with a computer game.
The company’s acquisition by Lego was part of Lego’s plan to fuse digital aspects of play to physical toys, a hybrid interaction internally referred to as “fluid play.” With a concept to create a toy-computer play-set based on the then popular Lego Duplo Circus theme, Lego also brought on the technology development team of Zowie Intertainment to work on a smart toy technology platform called the KidPad. However, due to the dot-com bubble crash and the ensuing economic difficulties, the KidPad Circus and related programs at Lego were cancelled.{{Cite web |url=https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/set/assets/bltfb18e128b11cda97/bits_n_bricks_s01e02_fluid_play_feature_and_transcript.pdf|title=How the LEGO Group Blends the Physical and Digital to Create New Forms of Play|date=16 December 2020 |access-date=2023-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628074652/https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/set/assets/bltfb18e128b11cda97/bits_n_bricks_s01e02_fluid_play_feature_and_transcript.pdf|archive-date=2023-06-28 |url-status=live }}
Zowie Intertainment was also one of the companies that organized discussions regarding psychological and developmental concerns of children interacting with smart toys and electronic playthings.{{Cite book |url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/633292.633436|title=Smart Toys: Brave New World?|date=6 April 2000 |pages=247–248 |doi=10.1145/633292.633436 |isbn=9781581132489 |s2cid=31168670 |access-date=2023-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702084141/https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/633292.633436|archive-date=2023-07-02 |url-status=live }}