The toy industry is abuzz with hi-tech toys, board games and interactive tablets. While in some, you can replace the keyboard with bananas, there are other games that will require the child to click and upload his own pictures. Nikhil Dawar tells you more
Technology is instrumental in prompting children to go with quick learning and smart thinking. So move over staid toys and board games, this is an age of interactive tablets, toy phones which can converse, tables and science kits that aim at developing learning, writing, communicating and logical thinking skills in children of various age groups.
Pulkit Singhal, owner of Toy Park Delhi, opines that learning while playing is the key to having a strong foundation. “Today, technology-driven toys aren’t just about entertainment but are fun as well. They impart educational values and ensure a strong foundation in the child. For instance, earlier, Barbie dolls used to come with make-up kits but now there are many apps one can indulge in. Be it uploading the picture of your doll and sharing it online with friends, or role playing in various situations, the apps are very child friendly,” Singhal says. He adds that these online extensions have made toys worth that much more.
Then there is the ‘FunKey’ gadget designed by Roboticwares Innovation which helps substitute your keyboard and mouse controls to real-life objects such as wood or even fruit and vegetables. The simple plug-and-play hardware can be used externally with your system through an USB. This makes it possible for you to play the piano and virtual drums with a controller of your choice.
“This hardware makes it possible for you to achieve the impossible — replace the keyboard with an object of your choice. So, you can connect the wires within the devise to bananas and then play any tune of your choice,” Kushal Nahata, business development manager, Roboticwares, says.
According to him, the gadget works on the simple principle of electric conductivity. “FunKey is a printed circuit board with an ATMega8 microcontroller running firmware. It uses the Human Interface Device (HID) protocol to communicate with your computer, and it can send key presses, mouse clicks and even mouse movements. like when you touch the banana, you make a connection, FunKey sends the computer a message. The computer reads the programme and does the needful,” he says. FunKey comes at a price of Rs1,299 with a six-month warranty.
“I have been thinking about an alternative to a keyboard. It struck me that we could use technology to make gaming more fun. Imagine a world wherein you could play games by dipping yours leg in four buckets. When you dip you leg in any of the buckets, it acts as a pressed key. So it’s exciting and nerve-wrecking at the same time,” he tells you.
Nahata leaves you with another innovative idea — Imagine a situation where you are in a board room presenting something on a slide. If you have connected the wires of this FunKey to your juice bottle, each time you sip from the bottle, the slide changes automatically!
Nahata argues that this is quite a safe toy and can be used by all age groups from 14 years upwards. “It is safe as the current flow while pressing/ touching is only few micro amps. The National Electrical Code (NEC) considers 5 milliamps (0.005 amps) to be a safe upper limit for children and adults — much lesser than the prescribed limit,” Nahata says.
When the talk is about tech toys, there is something for toddlers as well. The leapFrog’s Chat and Count Phone toy is a must for learning communication and counting numbers. Children can make calls and record voicemail with this Puppy Pal Violet. At Rs1,664, this is quite a nursery companion that parents could afford.
What is also selling like hot cakes these days is VTech’s InnoTab 2 learning App Tablet. Through this, children can capture images and make videos through a camera, download hundreds of apps, listen to audio books, read e-books and much more.
The 5-inch touchscreen, tilt sensor, microphone, pop-up (onscreen) keypad and stylus allow children to play games, create art, take notes, or use utilities like the onboard calendar or friends list all on one device.