Netflix Connected Mr. Bear

A pair of bears starts Netflix with a hug, so even if you’re far apart, you can watch together.

“Everywhere you look, everywhere you go, there’s a heart, a hand to hold onto…”

You’ll never forget Full House. But do you remember Mr. Bear? This holiday season, Netflix brings back Stephanie Tanner’s beloved stuffed animal to make every house a fuller house. Mr. Bear connects people through love of their favorite shows, just like Netflix. These bears tell friends and family—no matter how far away—that you’re thinking of them and ready to watch your favorite shows together.

Wait. How does Mr. Bear turn on Fuller House?

Our bears work with a touch of holiday magic and two linked hearts connected via a custom “cuddle” sensor. Hug the first bear and he calls his pair, causing both bears’ hearts to slowly pulse. When the bear’s buddy is squeezed, both hearts glow brightly and blink three times, turning on Netflix in both locations. The code and hardware for our Connected Mr. Bear is open source and available on GitHub.

Get it on Github

Old bear. New tricks.

Our Mr. Bear comes from North American Bear Company, the original manufacturers of Mr. Bear in the ‘80s. You can create your own connected “bears” using any of your favorite stuffed animals, because what really makes these bears special is what’s inside.

Our bears have a custom sensor made with conductive foam pads that registers hugs, cuddles, snuggles, and squeezes. We have also sewn a special enclosure into each bear that’s filled with a cellular-connected microcontroller, battery and IR LEDs (for starting Netflix). The bears’ illuminating hearts are 3D-printed and embedded with LEDs.