Play-i Bo and Yana toy robots (via Play-i)
Gone are the days when children played with simple toys to learn new skills. These have since been replaced by mobile devices (children’s tablets) and electronic handheld games. But while the future will indeed see an influx in coding jobs, trying to get a young child interested in the subject can be daunting to say the least. Sure, more schools are adopting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) related classes to teach kids how to code but trying to get a six year-old to sit in front of a computer and start writing is a different story. Play-I has come up with a solution to getting children interested in coding with their Bo and Yana programmable robots. Both Bo (3-wheeled robot) and Yana (stationary robot) teach children (ages 5 and up) how to program through music, stories and animations designed to use simple input functions.
This is done using MIT and Google’s Scratch & Blocky app (currently for iOS only), which allows users to drag and drop icons to perform various functions. Children also get the advantage of seeing the actual code behind those icons, allowing them to eventually write their own code for the pair of robots. They can even share their programs with other children through an on-line repository, which they can modify to suit their needs. Owners can program the robots to give a friend a flower or even push a bar to help clean their rooms with Play-I’s various accessories. The robots are currently being crowd-funded on Play-I’s website and are in striking distance of their $250,000 goal with 28 days left to go. Those interested can pledge $49 for the Yana robot and $149 for the Bo robot. More advanced users can pledge $499, which nets them both robots as well as a soon to be released API (Application Programming Interface).
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