Google is working on a search engine for toddlers powered by voice search

Google is developing a search engine for nursery-age children.

The tech giant is targeting the bubble-based interface at youngsters “who cannot yet read words” by “gamifying” the experience of looking up information, according to a European patent.

Google’s Assistant, which is installed in phones, tablets and smart speakers, already allows voice search and third-party games such as Simon Says, but the US company’s inventors want to do more to “assist young users” so they do not need to read “textual prompts”.

Education campaigners warned such methods risked “hooking” children, so that they rely on easy gadgets at the expense of steady brain development through reading books.

But Google suggests that the digital assistant would help development, asking the child educational questions during term time and quizzing them about “fun” topics in the holidays. The company says the aim is to “identify, curate, and present content appropriate for children” and screen out violent or explicit content.

The patent — titled Gamifying Voice Search Experience for Children — suggests they could summon the search box by popping colourful on-screen bubbles, and then speak the term they want information about, such as animals or sports. Bubbles would show the child that the device is “actively listening” to them.

Documents give the example that the child might say, “Giraffe!” before pictures and video of the animal are shown on-screen, which they could “like”, “dislike” or leave comments on. The patent says that existing voice search features can be ineffective for children as they often “do not know what to ask for” or “pause when prompted to speak, and sometimes get nervous and stutter, which leads to inaccurate voice recognition and therefore inaccurate search results.”

It adds: “Aspects of the (patent) transform content searching into a game-like experience that teaches young users how to search for interesting content.”

Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, warned that children risked becoming hooked on gadgets too young. Mr McGovern, a former London headteacher, said such gadgets were “feeding an addiction to digital technology which we have in schools — they rely on it a great deal, which takes them away from the printed word in a traditional form of a book”.

Google said: “We file patent applications on a variety of ideas. Some of those mature into real products, some don’t. Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patent applications.”