As anyone who has been on the receiving end of a Furby stare will know, 'smart toys' walk a very thin line between being intuitive and downright creepy.
If we had to choose one, we'd say that Google's new patent applications lean most definitely on the side of creepy.
The search giant has filed a patent application for a range of smart cuddly toys that would interact with the world around them using a central server to learn and adapt their responses.
If that doesn't sound scary then here's a direct quote:
"The anthropomorphic device may aim its gaze at the source of the social cue, [then] interpret the command (via its servers) and map it to a media control device,"
That's right, it's a cuddly toy that will turn its head and face you, presumably for the rest of all time.
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As if to make things worse, Google's application then suggests that you could use the device as some form of remote for your connected home.
So to recap: It's a cuddly toy that can follow you around the room with its eyes, it's connected to an ever-learning server and it can be used to control your entire house.
If this is the future, we'll blink first.
Correction:This article has been updated to reflect that this is a patent application.