BotZee prototype (via pocketlint)
Although tablets and smartphones already make for some great toys, very young users could have a hard time getting into them. So the company WowWee has made a little companion to help youngins, 3 y.o. or older, interact with the tablet using a touchless interface and learning from games in the process. The toy is called BotZee and some might see it as a glorified tablet stand but its makers say it will teach little boys and girls about numbers, letters, shapes among other things, through interactive games.
BotZee can be connected to your iOS or Android device and it adjusts to different size devices ranging from iPads, down to holding a Nexus 7 safely. When connected to the device, the toy bot taps into the device’s front-facing camera and a BotZee app. It comes with paper cubes and cards that are flashed to the bot to play games.
By twisting BotZee’s ear, you can switch game modes on the app. There is a letter matching game, which helps kids learn them and also brings up video of an animal or thing whose name starts with that letter so they learn association as well. Another game is a music game where kids flash cubes with different instruments to include those sounds in BotZee’s concert. Or if BotZee gets hungry, you can feed it using a cube with foods printed on it.
These games will also help kids improve their hand eye coordination because the cards or cubes must be positioned correctly for BotZee to read them. The toy does have a compartment in the back to store cubes and cards and a handle to make it easy for kids to carry so maybe tykes will pick up after themselves? Learn a little responsibility? Mahh probably not.
Sometimes it seems the bot has a bit of an evil grin, but it really means no harm. The face animates according to actions and when using flash cards to color a picture, its eyes light up in the color chosen. Its face also contains speakers in the cheeks so you can better hear BotZee’s directions. The toy does use 4 AA batteries to function although a WowWee representative said the bot does not use a lot of juice so they should last a while.
WowWee also said in order for their toy to be successful, both physical and digital components must be able to stand independently. For this reason, BotZee also has buttons on its face to play. Likewise, the app has games to play when BotZee isn’t around.
No price is available for the toy but WowWee said it will be available in August 2013.
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