For those unfamiliar, the Pokedex was a red camera-like gadget that Ash used to identify Pokemon.
The gadget would analyze the creature and then vocally tell Ash its name and description.
Companies like Tiger have released Pokedex toys, but none worked like the one from the show.
He succeeded on most points.
It would have added much more complexity with minimal payoff to an already “stressful” project.
Haskins admitted that the most challenging part of the project was designing and debugging the software.
Cloning the Pokedex’s voice (actor Nick Stellate) was easy using an online AI platform calledPlayHT.
The text-to-voice software struggled with the proper pronunciation of some pocket monster names.
However, it worked well enough.
The database contains bitmap images paired with Pokemon names.
The pictures render well on the small monochrome OLED panel, but the text sometimes appears garbled.
Still, all assembled, the Pokedex looked and worked as advertised, so it was time to debug.
“But I think that’s the nature of these projects.
They’re not always going to be exactly perfect.”
He tested the Pokedex out on a couple of toys.
It could not correctly identify a plushie but recognized action figures and images on a computer screen quite well.
Haskins says it’s likely because the stuffed Pokemon doesn’t look enough like its image from the database.
One might imagine a similar success rate for a program designed to identify celebrities by comparing caricatures to photos.
