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Make Local AI Toys, Robots, Devices that work with a MacBook and an Arduino ESP32

135 starsTypeScript

AI Toys that don't need the internet

Name: AI Toys that don't need the internet
Availability: InStock
Author: akadeb

by akadeb·Mar 14, 2026·1 point·0 comments

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AI Analysis

●●SolidNiche GemCozy

Local AI toys with voice cloning that keep kids' data off the cloud.

Strengths

•ESP32 hardware + Apple Silicon inference keeps all data local
•Voice cloning with under 10 seconds of audio in 10 languages
•Rust Tauri app with Python sidecar for voice pipeline

Weaknesses

•Requires ESP32 hardware setup - not plug-and-play for most parents
•Limited to Apple Silicon for local inference

Post Description

A lot of parents I speak to are concerned about sending their children's chat transcripts to the cloud and privacy is often the first thing that comes up when we talk about AI toys.

So I built OpenToys so anyone with an ESP32 can create their own AI Toys that run inference locally, starting with Apple Silicon chips and keep their data from leaving their home network.

The repo currently supports voice cloning and multilingual conversations in 10 languages locally. The app is a Rust Tauri app with a Python sidecar with the voice pipeline. The stack uses Whisper for STT, any MLX LLMs, and Qwen3-TTS and Chatterbox-Turbo for TTS.