I’ve had this post in my draft items since October 2006, now slowly finding time to write on Pixelsumo again. In August 2005 I posted ZXZX, a device by Crispin Jones that you cheat the computer at button tapping games, asking “What does it mean to cheat this unseeing opponent?”
Periborg are a series of [...]

The Cube was fictional film in 1997 in which people find they are trapped in a giant cube maze. Each cube room has 6 doors that leds to another room. This interactive architecture is full of sensors and actuators (flame throwsers, spikes etc causing considerable pain), and is essentially playing a game with [...]

Looking through the site of Hector Serrano from a previous post, I found this collaboration with Lola Llorca…
“Manolo Is Gonna Have Fun takes fun to the extreme with common objects. Objects that combine normal function and are amusing. Manolo´s products are inspired by toys and the actions of playing games. Manolo is gonna have fun [...]

Miniorgan.com is a site documenting Erics collection of rare and vintage musical electronic toys. There are 112 in this online library. Aside from the many synthesizers, I find these toys delightful to look at in terms of their intended interaction and the aesthetic.

Tomy Voice Corder (1972)
“BEST MUSICAL TOY OF THE WORLD!!! Play & [...]

Following on from my previous posts on alternative perspectives, I am pleased to see the work in progress so far on Animal Superpowers (link 1, link 2) from RCA students Kenichi Okada and Chris Woebken.
“Experimental series of toys as sensory enhancements for kids to experience animal superpowers. Those 5 devices are special tools allowing kids [...]

Back in October 2006, I wrote about some new product concepts from Philips (read here). For me the most exciting was Drag & Draw, a digital painting kit that lets children draw on their walls without leaving a mess. A small laser projector in a bucket traces outlines of childrens drawings, tracked by [...]

[update] Here is a video by Gaz Cobain showing some of the works. Show open until 5th May 2007.
I’ve been a regular visitor to the Kinetica Museum in London since it’s opening. One of the things I always really liked were the automata donation boxes. For this reason I attended the Cabaret Mechnical Theatre [...]

Trunki is the world’s first ride-on suitcase for 3-6 year olds. Invented by Bristol based product designer Rob Law in 1998, now as his company Magmatic Design (founded in 2003), this product is aimed at keeping children happy whilst travelling through airports. Read this interview with Rob on how it started.
Retailing at £25, [...]