Categories
Kids/Babies Robots/Drones

Behind its cute smile, the Plobot teaches tykes to program

The idea of teaching young children about the nuances of programming logic is quickly becoming more commonly accepted. Doing so benefits all types of skills, from visualization to problem solving, and help children confront the challenges of a rapidly developing world.

The Plobot is another in a long line of completely physical programming toys created to help children explore the world of progamming world in a very tactile way. Created by NYU robotics professor Rudi Cossovich and ex-Google engineer Sean Purser-Haskell, does away with syntax and computer screens while still educating children about algorithms, loops, conditionals, and more. Command cards are core to the Plobot experience, with each representing a block of code. Kids can tap or swipe them on Plobot’s head to string them together and create a program the robot follows, with the play card serving as an execute function.

Categories
Kids/Babies Maker/Development

The SBrick Plus hides STEM education inside toy bricks

As a child, there’s not much better than having a full set of Legos to go to town on. As adults, there isn’t much out there as fondly remembered as the classic building blocks. Now, with the explosion of IoT technology, the SBrick Plus take clicking together plastic bricks up a notch.

The sequel to the successfully funded SBrick back in 2014, the SBrick Plus is a Bluetooth-enabled brick placed into Lego models to control them remotely using a smart device like a phone, tablet, gamepad or PC. What’s more, the SBrick Plus uses sensors from the WeDo 1.0 family that can be programmed in several languages and track variables like tilt and proximity for fun uses in model planes, for example. What the SBrick really allows for are dynamic educational experiences in the home and in the classroom, something the team behind the product facilitates with a series of lessons designed to teach the fundamentals of programming and robotics.

Categories
Kids/Babies Smartwatches/Bands

The BRILLAR kid’s watch gamifies the real world

The sedentary nature of today’s youth is well-documented, leading many to deride the role screen time contributes to the problem. With applications like Pokemon GO leading a change in mainstream attitudes about how screens can be a benefit rather than a nuisance, BRILLAR looks to capitalize on this renewed awareness with its own twist.

BRILLAR is a chimera of a kid’s smartwatch. It not only tells time but also boasts a micro-SIM slot for its phone function, the ability to store 11 pre-set contacts, a walkie-talkie, a GPS unit, and a pedometer. This forms the basis for the Roodymentary application, a challenge-based gaming experience that offers children real-life challenges that get them up and moving by completing scavenger hunts to workouts for digital rewards they can show off to friends.

Categories
Augmented Reality Connected Objects Displays Kids/Babies

Egger augmented reality projector is prep school for Pokemon Go

editors-choiceThe prevalence of smartphones and tablets is something that needs to be carefully managed around children lest they become too attached. It’s been proven that too much screen time can have an adverse on young, developing minds, something that prompted the team behind Egger to do something about it.

Their solution is a friendly, egg-shaped augmented reality projector designed with children in mind. The Egger can be used as an educational aid as much as it can be used as an entertainment device, with both subject to inputs from children and adults alike using the packed remoter control reminiscent of a Wiimote. It can play movies, TV shows, and music, with a sketchpad to really let the imagination loose, as well.

Categories
Connected Objects Kids/Babies Toys

Wordee uses light to help budding wordsmiths master lingo

Technology has never been more prevalent than it is now, especially for the children who, at younger and younger ages, are exposed to more and more of it. But instead of subscribing to the idea that technology ultimately harms childhood development, Tokyo-based JellyWare Inc. wants to embrace it instead with Wordee.

Wordee is an educationally-minded robot that, put simply, draws with light. This unique hook is made possible through Wordee’s use of LEDs that blink in certain patterns that are absorbed by a phosphorescent sheet. This allows the device to “print” out words and phrases that persist for a few seconds before fading away.

Categories
Kids/Babies Smartwatches/Bands

Octopus smartwatch teaches kids time and good habits

Kids’ smartwatches tend to merely be stripped-down versions of standard smartwatches, with fewer features but more colorful designs.

Octopus is a twist on kids’ smartwatches, featuring a simple, icon-based user interface designed to teach children good habits and the concept of time, while fostering independence, responsibility and self-esteem. The watch works in conjunction with Android and iOS mobile devices that allow parents to manage Octopus from their own smartphones and tablets. Octopus ships in March at $79, but Kickstarter backers can order one for a pledge starting at $49 for early birds. Its makers hope to raise $50,000 by July 22.

The design of Octopus sets it apart from many other kids smartwatches, such as Miiya. That it’s water resistant is a plus, but being waterproof would be preferable for any kids’ smartwatch considering how likely it is that the device will get wet at some point. More importantly, Octopus doesn’t –- at least for now –- have the ability to alert parents as soon as their child is about to be out of range. That’s a feature that its makers are working on and want to make available by the time it ships … or at least as a free software update later on.

 

Categories
Connected Objects Kids/Babies Sleep

Suzy Snooze helps Suzy –- and everybody else –- get some sleep

Every parent wants their babies to get some sleep because if an infant doesn’t sleep, the adults don’t either.

patent-claimedSuzy Snooze is a three-in-one device that uses light and sound to soothe kids to sleep — helping their parents get some sleep in the process — and also helps wake kids up. Suzy evolves with children through their early years — serving as first a baby monitor, then a lullaby nightlight, and then a toddler sleep trainer. It plugs into a wall socket and comes with U.S., U.K. and European adapters.

Suzy works out of the box, but also in conjunction with a mobile device app that allows parents to control the device’s functions remotely, including whether to leave the nightlight on or off.

Categories
Connected Objects Kids/Babies

The Snowfox trackerphone keeps your little cubs safe

editors-choiceBack before the advent of smartphones, kids used to go to this thing called “outside.” In this magical place, anything was possible. There were usually other kids out there, too, and together they were only limited by their imaginations. Times have certainly changed. Now, screens dominate children’s attention at the same time, parents can’t possibly imagine their children going off to do something by themselves anymore.

At the end of the day, parents would consider letting their child explore the world by themselves, but buying them a smartphone to keep track is an expensive proposition. This is why the Snowfox, a pendant-like trackerphone designed exclusively for children, is such a cool idea. Since it has a built-in SIM card and GPS, guardians can use a companion iOS/Android app to keep an eye on their little ones, receive push notifications if they leave home or school, and even call them if need be.

Categories
Kids/Babies Wearables

EyeForcer forces your kids to have better posture while using mobile devices

Kids are spending an awful lot of time sitting in front of smartphones and tablets playing games and surfing the Internet. But all that slouching they are doing can result in terrible posture that leads to medical problems down the road.

patent-claimedEyeForcer is a patent-pending wearable piece of eyewear with an accompanying app that monitors kids while they are using smartphones and tablets, and encourages them to have better posture. It penalizes bad posture by reducing the amount of time that kids using it can spend using mobile devices. EyeForcer ships in November at future pricing of about $65. But Kickstarter backers can get one for a pledge of about $93. Its makers are trying to raise $154,580 by July 6.

Categories
Fitness Kids/Babies Smartwatches/Bands

Kids hooked on Owl fitness system get wise to healthier habits

Childhood obesity is a problem that continues to grow in the United States: over the past 30 years alone, the rate of obese children and adolescents has more than doubled, which means that almost one-third of them are obese. One of the best ways to combat obesity is a healthy lifestyle that includes physical exercise, something most don’t get as more spend longer playing mobile games. OWL LLC wants to gamify the development of positive exercise habits and make them easier to engage with its Owl Fitness Tracker.

The Owl iOS app essentially replicates the nostalgia-laden experiencing of caring for a Tamogatchi or a Pokémon Pikachu with the Owl fitness tracker acting as a pedometer. The more a user walks, the more points can be earned to grow the Owl,  buy food to keep it happy, and accessorize it for fun.