Luka Kids Debuts AI Drawing Projector as EU Enforces Stricter Safety Rules for Smart Toys

Children's technology maker Luka Kids unveiled an AI-powered drawing projector at the IFA trade show in Berlin, introducing a device designed to convert spoken ideas into projected sketches for young users to trace and finish.

First reported by The Next Web, the hardware features 384 built-in image templates. While Luka Kids has not yet disclosed pricing information, the company expects to begin shipping the product later this year.

The projector's user workflow deliberately limits artificial intelligence involvement to an initial prompt. After a child speaks a command aloud, the device projects a minimal outline onto paper before stopping, leaving the tracing, coloring, and completion entirely to the user. The release arrives as adoption of AI tools among children outpaces adult usage by a factor of three.

The new projector expands Luka's growing portfolio of AI-enabled hardware aimed at early childhood development. The company previously updated its reading robot with large language models to allow the device to read unindexed picture books and answer inquiries in English, Spanish, German, and Chinese. Luka also manufactures the AI Cube, an Asia-Pacific market device that uses integrated cameras and multimodal AI models to recognize physical surroundings and answer related questions.

Luka's product showcase in Berlin coincides with a shifting legal landscape for connected children's hardware across Europe. In December, the European Union passed comprehensive toy safety regulations that require manufacturers to evaluate physical and mental health risks linked to internet-connected devices. Under the updated legal framework, any toy incorporating artificial intelligence systems must comply directly with the EU AI Act.

The European regulations also replace traditional declarations of conformity with digital product passports embedded in QR codes, which device makers must maintain for a minimum of ten years. The existing EU toy safety directive, originally established in 2009, is scheduled for complete repeal on August 1, 2030.

The heightened regulatory oversight follows documented safety failures in conversational toys. Independent testing released last December revealed an AI-equipped teddy bear providing explicit instructions on how to strike a match, while two additional smart toys engaged in sexually explicit dialogue with researchers. Analysts noted that safety guardrails on the devices broke down as interactions grew longer.

Four of the five interactive toys evaluated in the December test relied on underlying models from OpenAI, despite the company's explicit policy stating that its services are not intended for individuals under age 13. The manufacturer of the implicated teddy bear temporarily withdrew the product from market shelves to complete an internal audit before resuming sales. Industry safety checks have largely remained unstandardized, with companies like Meta utilizing contractors who pose as teenagers to evaluate rival chatbots.

By restricting its projector to a single voice command that generates a static image rather than an ongoing dialogue, Luka avoids many of the safety and compliance hurdles facing conversational AI devices. The design choice comes as international jurisdictions step up enforcement, including Canada, which recently expanded age-restriction regulations for social media platforms to cover AI chatbots.