DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM

Texas Instruments Peek-A-Boo Zoo

Date of introduction:	1990	Display technology:
New price:	$25.46 (1992)	Display size:	n.a.
Size:	13.4" x 13.4" x 3.7"
Weight:	2 pounds 11 ounces	Serial No:
Batteries:	4*AA cells	Date of manufacture:	year 1991
AC-Adapter:		Origin of manufacture:	China (A)
Precision:		Integrated circuits:	TSP50C11 (CSM11012)
Memories:
Program steps:		Courtesy of:	Joerg Woerner

The Talking Peek-A-Boo Zoo is an educational toy with memory, color, animal, and gross/fine motor skill manipulative practice. The toy has buttons on it in 6 different colors, and when you push any of the buttons a corresponding color hand pops open and the animal under it will say its make and it's name. Katie Kangaroo has an Australian accent. Percy the Parrot has an English accent. The game is interactive. It will ask the child to find the Orange triangle, or ask what your child's favorite color is. It will prompt them to choose colors and different shapes. It also asks the child questions such as, "Can you find Katie Kangaroo?" for interaction and language skills.

Dismantling this Peek-A-Boo Zoo manufactured in 1991 by (or for) Texas Instruments in China reveals a technology very similar to the various Touch & Talkies. The design of the Peek-A-Boo Zoo is centered around a TSP50C11 Voice Synthesis Processor (VSP) and makes use of just one Integrated Circuit:

• TSP50C11/CSM11012: TSP50C50 VSP (Voice Synthesis Processor) with 8-bit microcontroller and 16k Bytes Mask ROM for both program and voice and 128 Bytes + 16 Nibbles RAM

The toy is intended for toddlers ages 9 to 36 month.

The toy was available in a lot of different languages:

• American Voice: Peek-A-Boo Zoo
• Spanish Voice: El Zoo Mágico
• French Voice: Le Zoo Magique
• British Voice: Talking Peep-O Zoo

Other toys for toddlers are the Discovery Depot, Listen & Learn, Magic Clown, Magic Sorter, My Own Playphone and the Talking Storytime Sorter.

The Talking Peek-A-Boo Zoo is featured in the Texas Instruments Incorporated leaflet Follow the Learning Path™ dated 1991.

If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.