Making Toys

::Spykee WIFI::

This little robot called Spykee The WIFI Robot is made out of 200 parts that you assemble together. Three different version can be built with the same kit: Robot, Lunar, and Scorpion. Spykee can move, hear, speak and take pictures, record video and be controlled by computer anywhere in the world  via WIFI on the internet. This means  that all this input data that is perceived by Spykee  is accecible to you.  You can can then control in response a digital video camera, microphone, loudspeaker and two motors. Spykee is marketed as a spy robot because it has video surveillance device with a motion detector that can react by activating an alarm or send you a picture via e-mail. Basically Spykee is not only a mobile interface to the internet but also has a neat little feature that  I wish my cell phone could have. Spyke returns automatically to its charging base when the battery needs recharging. Spykee WIFI is also a telephone. It can make free phone calls through the internet by using VoIP phone.

Ray Renteria, argues in Missing the Point with a Potentially Game-Changing Robot “Toy”,  that even tough Spykee WIFI down fall is that is not programmable, it does allow for  telepresence which is often overlook as a strength of this robot.

And there is already a crack so you can control Spykee WIFI with your IPhone.

Spykee WIFI

::Swinxs::

Collecting information at the Toy Fair, such as details of the different technologies embedded in the toys, prove to be  a bit tricky. It was not so much  because of secrecy but because in most cases the people at the booth were either manufacturers of sale representatives which some time did not have access to these details. One booth that was the exception was the booth for Danish toy, Swinxs. I had the opportunity to interview one of the developer of Swinxs, Govert de Vries, and here is  what I gathered:

Mr. Vries and a friend were brainstorming about creating game that would provide a frame work for children to play outdoors. The idea continued to get refined and was brought to Khadi Feiz who designed the interface  of Swinxs. The interface consist of a base with an accelerometer, a microphone, LED lights, a speaker, a RFID reader, and a USB connection that allows the user to upload new games to the console. The XS-TAG , are colorfull armbands that connect to the console by  RFID tags embeded in them. The next step in the development of Swinxs, to make the game open platform so users could not only upload new games to the console but also be able to create them, came from an unexpected source. The original programing language used to program Swinxs was Assembly. While Assembly proved to be difficult for the general public to use, a programer that had purchased Swinxs offered to create a simpler way to program new games for the Swinxs. Currently the Swinxs website provides tutorials and a forum for programing new games. Govert de Vries sees  Swinxs as a fluid game console that can continue to evolve thanks to the community of users and developers. Because of an earlier converasation with Toy Fair an attendie, he was interested in the possiblities of play that Swinxs can provide to children with dissabilities.

::Console::                                                 

::XS-TAG::

::RFID tags Playing cards::