Pixelsumo is a blog about interaction, with an emphasis on play, installation, video game culture, playgrounds and toys. Written by Chris O'Shea.
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Posted February 18th 2009 under Kinetic, Robot, Toys
One of my favorite projects, Topobo (2004), is now available to buy. Unfortunately its priced at $499 for a 100 piece kit, but it is aimed at schools afterall and I know they are expensive to produce. I played with it 2005 and am very happy that its made it into (limited) production.
“Topobo is the world’s first construction toy with kinetic memory, the ability to record and playback physical motion. Snap together Passive (static) and Active (motorized) pieces into a creation, and with a press of a button and a flick of your wrist, you can teach your creation how to dance or walk. The same way you can learn how buildings stand by stacking up blocks, you can discover how animals walk by playing with Topobo.”
Watch original video / more videos.
Invented by by Hayes Raffle and Amanda Parkes at the MIT Media Lab, its sort of a cross between the construction freedom of lego and the movements/learning of Soda Play, in a way.
There are many depths to the interaction and I’d highly recommend reading some of the research papers.
Comments
(February 18th 2009)
I think I remember hearing of Nicholas Negroponte placing microchips within his body. The chips could detect and record the electrical stimulus passed from the brain that controlled various muscles in that region. The chip, by remote an exterior remote control, could then replicate the electrical charge from the chip and control the muscle. It might be a bit soon for remote control humans, so they seemed to have stuck it into a toy!
(February 22nd 2009)
Interesting toy…
@Eoghan: Hahaha, that’s an amazing idea! Reminds me of “Ghost in the shell”?