Hasta La Ideas

From the app-based Nickster to the electronic building blocks of Littlebits, toys are making leaps and bounds in cool factor. Launched this morning on Kickstarter, Toymail is the latest and greatest new digitally-enhanced plaything. In short, they’re walkie talkie-like characters with the ability to relay messages from parents/grandparents/friends to the child who owns the toy. How it works: Anyone who downloads Toymail‘s free app can leave a message on one of the toys. Users dial in a toy/child to send a message to, talk into the phone (just like leaving a voicemail) and push send. The receiver is alerted by an animal noise—if their Toymail is a pig, it oinks when a message is received—and can respond directly to the message by pressing a button. The video below shows the toy in action:

Cofounders Gauri Nanda and mother-of-three Audry Hill were looking to create a toy that brought kids and loved ones together. “I started asking myself, ‘Could toys be made to evolve every day and what would that look like?'” says Nanda. “I felt that it was time for toys to feel more like they do in Toy Story and Pee Wee’s Playhouse, so that they never become boring or obsolete. So that they would grow as the child does.”

Sketches from character development and prototyping the toys.

(more…)

I don’t know about you, but I still find it shocking to see toddlers walking around with smartphones. Instead of scoffing, Steve Cozzolino saw opportunity. At a fateful dinner party, Cozzolino noticed that eight out of nine children were playing around on some kind of digital device (including a set of 1-year-old twins on an iPhone). At the time, he was in the process of creating Nickster, a physical toy set (inspired by his son Nick) on a Kickstarter mission, which now consists of a physical toy set and a themed app to teach kids basic principles of building, matching shapes and counting. But it was in these digital mavericks—who could barely walk but could tap and swipe—that Cozzolino realized that saw the future of play: In order to be engaging and relevant to today’s youth, he needed to create something with a digital component. “What’s most unique and innovative about the Nickster Playland app is that it connects children back to physical toys,” Cozzolino says. “It encourages them to not just play in the digital world, but also have fun with their toys.”

The toys and app don’t just stop teaching after a few lessons. “What’s nice about the app is that it allows us to build upon the toys by creating an endless number of color and shape combinations and added levels of difficulty, all opportunities to learn more,” Cozzolino says. “For example, the Sequence Train toy is 1-4 while the Sequence Train app is 1-5, 1-10 and the complete alphabet.”

(more…)

Joel est un jouet très design fait de bambou réalisé par Shaun Hill de studio créatif sudafricain Say Who. Les pièces de bambou sont découpées au laser, avant d’être assemblées ensemble. Nous avons sélectionnés d’autres projets réalisés par l’agence. De très beaux travaux à découvrir en images dans la suite de l’article.

At a quiet studio in Kansas City, three creatives sculpt and mold prototypes for toys. Filmmaker Anthony Ladesich’s mini-doc, “The Secret Story of Toys,” looks at artists Jason Frailey, Adam Smith and Adrienne Smith as they carve everything from Terminators to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

In the molding area you’ll see similar equipment to what was seen in “A Look Inside a Moldmaking Shop,” but Ladesich’s narrative focuses much more on the actual creators as they explain the joys—and agonies—of scratching out toys from scratch:

Via Dooby Brain

(more…)

Understanding and acceptance of autism is a growing movement, and with that includes design that aims to aid the development of social skills. This simple yet effective tool, called Joyco, is a game for parents and children that focuses on playful interaction. Tactile elements stimulate pleasure in the form of touch and an interactive hoop game encourages eye contact with mom or dad!

Designer: Jowan Baransi

–
Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Shop CKIE – We are more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the CKIE store by Yanko Design!
(Multisensory Toys for Autism was originally posted on Yanko Design)

Related posts:

1. Projections for Autism
2. Wearable Regulation for Children with Autism
3. Surreal Becomes Real With Toys And AR