Touch Usability

KidiDoodle touch tablets for kids

I'm not a fan of kids' toys designed to look like grown-ups' gadgets (e.g. kiddie cell phones, laptops, and ATMs), but I may have to make an exception here. The KidiDoodle is a mini drawing tablet and screen. Even cooler, they come two-to-a-package and they communicate with each other via IR, so you can "email" your drawing to your buddy.

I read about this in an EETimes article that describes their innards in detail (based on resistive touchpad technology): VTech's KidiDoodle: Touch-pad Technology Meets Child's Play.

VTech has them on sale for $20 (+5 for shipping). Amazon has them for $30 (free shipping).

I ordered a set for my nephews... unless I decide to keep them for, uh, research purposes.

Touch cube points to future toys (BBC)

You've probably already seen this on YouTube... The "Fentix Cube" by Andrew Fentem.  From the BBC:

A small plastic cube with playful lights, it could be mistaken for a mass market throwaway toy manufactured by the million in the Far East.

But the colourful exterior masks a combination of innovative technologies that have propelled Apple's iPhone and Nintendo's Wii to huge success this year.

The cube contains a large battery, an array of LEDs and crucially three accelerometers which can detect the pitch and yaw of the device, and sensors on the inside surface for touch control.

Mr Fentem says: "You instinctively know how to use it. The way you understand the world as a young child is through physical and spatial awareness, up or down. It's how you learn and communicate."

Link: Touch cube points to future toys (BBC).

The cube is not for sale yet, but he hopes to have it available by next Christmas.  See also AndrewFentem.com.

Photo from BBC.com.