Lego is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. As of 2021, Lego was the largest toy company in the world. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking plastic bricks accompanying an array of gears, figurines called minifigures, and various other parts. Lego pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways to construct objects, including vehicles, buildings, and working robots. Anything constructed can be taken apart again, and the pieces reused to make new things.
Lego Mindstorms is a hardware and software structure which develops programmable robots based on Lego building blocks. Each version includes computer Lego bricks, a set of modular sensors and motors, and Lego parts from the Technic line to create the mechanical systems. The system is controlled by the Lego bricks.
Educational toys are objects of play, generally designed for children, which are expected to stimulate learning. They are often intended to meet an educational purpose such as helping a child develop a particular skill or teaching a child about a particular subject. They often simplify, miniaturize, or even model activities and objects used by adults.
Lego Education is a Lego theme designed specifically for schools that concentrates sets that can be used by education institutions and includes sets the focus on Duplo and Technic themes and contain larger amounts of pieces. The theme was first introduced in 1999.
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, Kickstarter has received $6.6 billion in pledges from 21 million backers to fund 222,000 projects, such as films, music, stage shows, comics, journalism, video games, technology, publishing, and food-related projects.
The Strong is an interactive, collections-based educational institution in Rochester, New York, United States, devoted to the study and exploration of play. It carries out this mission through six programmatic arms called "Play Partners":
Lego Friends is a product range of Lego construction toys designed primarily for girls. Launched in 2012, the theme introduced "mini-doll" figures, which are about the same size as traditional Lego minifigures but are more detailed and realistic. The five main characters of the theme are Andrea, Olivia, Stephanie, Mia and Emma. The Lego Friends sets depict scenes from suburban life set in the fictional town of Heartlake City and usually include one of the character's names in the titles. The sets are complemented by an animated series that premiered in 2012. The Friends product range replaced Lego's previous female-oriented theme Belville, which had been in production since 1994, and featured dolls that were much larger than both the mini-dolls and minifigures. The launch of Lego Friends in 2012 was one of Lego's biggest successes, as it not only doubled sales expectations, but also extensively widened Lego's customer base within the girls' sector. Despite receiving initial criticism relating to its representation of girls and their interests, the line has consistently performed well and has been regularly listed as one of The Lego Group's best selling themes.
Pebble is a discontinued smartwatch developed by Pebble Technology Corporation. Funding was conducted through a Kickstarter campaign running from April 11, 2012, to May 18, 2012, which raised $10.3 million; it was the most funded project in Kickstarter history, at the time. Pebble began shipping watches to Kickstarter backers in January 2013. Pebble watches can be connected to Android and iOS devices to show notifications and messages. An online app store distributed Pebble-compatible apps from many developers including ESPN, Uber, Runkeeper, and GoPro.
GoldieBlox is an American toy company that markets interactive toys designed for girls. GoldieBlox, which pairs a construction kit with a storybook, launched in 2012 as a prototype on Kickstarter. Its Kickstarter campaign led to more than $1 million in pre-orders placed in the first month. It has gone on to sell in retailers including Toys "R" Us and Amazon.
Braigo is a Braille printer design. Braigo version 1.0 uses a Lego Mindstorms EV3 kit, which includes a microprocessor with assorted components such as electric motors, sensors and actuators. Braigo v1.0 was designed by 13-year-old Shubham Banerjee in January 2014, as an entry in 7th grade school science fair project. The model was based on the PLOTT3R, a bonus model released with the EV3 kit and originally designed by Ralph Hempel. The cost was said to be about 350 USD or 250 Euros for the Lego Mindstorms EV3 kit and some extra commonly used hardware whereas a conventional Braille printer retails starting from about US$1,900.
Map Project Office is an industrial design studio based in Central London, working with both major brands and start-ups in the consumer technology space. The studio works with abstract technologies in the artificial intelligence, augmented reality and the IoT sectors, creating accessible experiences for the end user.
littleBits is a New York City-based startup that makes an open source library of modular electronics, which snap together with small magnets for prototyping and learning. The company's goal is to democratize hardware the way software and printing have been democratized. The littleBits mission is to "put the power of electronics in the hands of everyone, and to break down complex technologies so that anyone can build, prototype, and invent." littleBits units are available in more than 70 countries and used in more than 2,000 schools. The company was named to CNN's 10 Startups to Watch for 2013.
Jay Saul Silver is an electrical engineer and toy inventor from Cocoa Beach, Florida. Silver is the Founder and CEO of JoyLabz and MaKey MaKey and was the first-ever Maker Research Scientist at Intel.
Makey Makey: An Invention Kit for Everyone is an invention kit designed to connect everyday objects to computer keys. Using a circuit board, alligator clips, and a USB cable, the toy uses closed loop electrical signals to send the computer either a keyboard stroke or mouse click signal. This function allows the Makey Makey to work with any computer program or webpage that accepts keyboard or mouse click.
Hilary "Harry" Fisher Page was an English toy maker and inventor of Self-Locking Building Bricks, the predecessor of Lego bricks. He founded the Kiddicraft toy company.
Sophie Deen is a British children's author and leader in the field of coding and STEM for young people. She is the CEO of Bright Little Labs, a kids media company that makes animations, books, games and toys with a focus on 21st century skills, inclusive role models, and sustainability.
Alexis Lewis is an American inventor, repeat science fair winner and public speaker. She is best known for her advocacy for invention education and her humanitarian inventions. She is known to have given talks at the White House, Smithsonian, SXSW, National Maker Faire, the 2018 Social Innovation Summit, and at TEDx events. Lewis also gained repeat standing as a finalist or winner in national and international science and invention fairs, including the 2012 Broadcom MASTERS Challenge. In the course of the Spark!Lab Invent It Challenge, Lewis won pro-bono patent counsel, and holds a patent on the "Rescue Travois", granted 2015 and has one pending, on the "Emergency Mask Pod".
Lego Hidden Side was a Lego theme that was first introduced in August 2019. It took place in the fictional city of "Newbury" and linked Lego playsets to an app of the same name, which was used to hunt, capture and collect ghosts according to the principle of augmented reality. The series came on the market in 2019 and, after the discontinued Lego Dimensions and Nexo Knights series, represented another attempt by The Lego Group to link digital and real game worlds. It was accompanied by the Lego Hidden Side webisode series and a television special, which was released on the Lego YouTube channel, and on Cartoon Network. The product line was discontinued by the end of 2020.
Lego Fusion was a Lego theme that combined standard Lego bricks with a mobile app that was designed to interact and communicate with the build models according to the principle of augmented reality. The theme was first introduced on 1 August 2014 and exclusively in North America only. It was eventually discontinued by the end of July 2015.
Lego Life of George was a Lego theme that for the first time, combined standard Lego bricks with a mobile app. The theme was first introduced in October 2011. It was eventually discontinued by the end of December 2013.
