AIBO is a series of robotic dogs designed and manufactured by Sony. Sony announced a prototype Aibo in mid-1998, and the first consumer model was introduced on 11 May 1999. New models were released every year until 2006. Although most models were dogs, other inspirations included lion cubs and space explorers. Only the ERS-7, ERS-110/111 and ERS-1000 versions were explicitly a "robotic dog", but the 210 can also be considered a dog due to its Jack Russell Terrier appearance and face. In 2006, AIBO was added into the Carnegie Mellon University Robot Hall of Fame.
The Tech Interactive is a science and technology center that offers hands-on activities, labs, design challenges and other STEAM education resources. It is located in downtown San Jose, California, adjacent to the Plaza de César Chávez.
The iDog is a robot dog toy designed and manufactured by Sega Toys. An iDog figure receives input from an external music source, such as an MP3 player or iPod, and will light up and "dance" to the music's rhythm. It is marketed as the eDog in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
Globaloria is an online learning platform oriented to K-12 curricula to teach students to design, prototype, and code educational web/mobile games and simulations with industry-standard technology as a means of learning content and creative innovation skills. Globaloria was developed in 2006 by Idit Harel as a project of the World Wide Workshop Foundation with the stated mission of providing all primary and secondary school students in the U.S. with STEM and computing education opportunities. Globaloria is noteworthy among MOOCs as it is based in constructionist learning theory and Harel's research in the MIT Media Lab.
Lazer Tag is a brand name for the pursuit game using infrared toy guns, generically known as "laser tag". It was developed by Worlds of Wonder and launched in 1986. As one of America's top hit toys of 1986-1987, Lazer Tag was aggressively leveraged by Worlds of Wonder's retail sales network in an ultimatum to force the Nintendo Entertainment System into retail stores, allowing its smash hit nationwide launch, which prompted Nintendo of America to lead the nation's recovery from the 1983 video game crash and dominate the industry. The Lazer Tag brand is currently a subsidiary of Hasbro's Nerf toy line.
Parachute Express was an American band of three California-based entertainers who performed, wrote, and produced music for children. Members were Stephen Michael Schwartz, Janice Hubbard, and Donny Becker. Parachute Express gained national prominence as recording artists for Gymboree Play & Music, Walt Disney Records, and Trio Lane Records. They sang the theme song to the popular television series Jay Jay the Jet Plane and have been seen on TV shows Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. Rocks and Disney's Kaleidoscope Concerts. Their music was featured in over 550 Gymboree franchises throughout the world, as well as in preschools, daycare centers, and diverse informal education programs. Parachute Express created a total of twelve albums.
Todd Parr is an American author, illustrator, animator and television producer. Parr grew up in Rock Springs, Wyoming and later moved to San Francisco in 1995, where he pursued a career as an artist. He has also worked as a flight attendant before becoming a full-time author.
Lego Education, formerly known as Lego Dacta, is a specialized Lego theme created for educational purposes in schools. This theme, introduced in 1999, includes a variety of sets that cater to different educational needs.[2] These sets often focus on Duplo and Technic themes and typically contain a larger quantity of blocks. By incorporating these sets into the classroom, educators can provide students with hands-on learning experiences that enhance their understanding of various subjects, from basic building concepts to advanced engineering principles.[1]
Toca Boca is a Swedish children's mobile video game developer. The company is owned by Spin Master and is based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Primo Toys is a London-based educational toy company founded by Filippo Yacob and Matteo Loglio, best known for creating the Cubetto Playset, an award-winning wooden robot that has been used by more than 10 million children to date, designed to teach children how to code using a tangible programming language that doesn't use screens or literacy. In April 2016, Cubetto became the most crowd-funded ed-tech invention in history, when 6,553 backers pledged a total of $1,596,457 to support their Kickstarter campaign. Primo Toys are backed by Randi Zuckerberg, Arduino co-founder Massimo Banzi, and Liam Casey's PCH International.
Animal Jam Classic, formerly known as Animal Jam, is a massively multiplayer online game developed by WildWorks and recommended for kids up to the age of 12. It was launched in 2010, in collaboration with the National Geographic Society. As of late 2020, there were 3.3 million monthly active users and a lifetime total of 130 million registered players in 200 countries across both Animal Jam Classic and the mobile app spin-off Animal Jam.
Sophia is a female social humanoid robot developed in 2016 by the Hong Kong–based company Hanson Robotics. Sophia was activated on February 14, 2016, and made her first public appearance in mid-March 2016 at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, United States. Sophia was marketed as a "social robot" who can mimic social behavior and induce feelings of love in humans.
Osmo is a line of hands-on educational digital/physical games product by the company Tangible Play, based in Palo Alto, California. Osmo's products are built around its proprietary “Reflective Artificial Intelligence,” a system that uses a stand and a clip-on mirror to allow an iPad or iPhone's front-facing camera to recognize and track objects in the physical play space in front of the device.
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.
Swift Playgrounds is an educational tool and development environment for the Swift programming language developed by Apple Inc., initially announced at the WWDC 2016 conference. It was introduced as an iPad application alongside iOS 10, with a macOS version introduced in February 2020. It is available for free via Apple's App Store for iPadOS and Mac App Store for macOS.
Callum Daniel is a British entrepreneur, presenter and founder of iCodeRobots, a technology company based in Loughborough University London focussed on giving children of all backgrounds and income levels access to classes training them to build and code robots and engaging them in a wide range of current and future tech.
Marina Umaschi Bers is the Augustus Long Professor of Education at Boston College. Bers holds a secondary appointment in Boston College's Department of Computer Science. Bers directs the interdisciplinary DevTech Research Group, which she started in 2001 at Tufts University. Her research involves the design and study of innovative learning technologies to promote children's positive development. She is known for her work in the field of early childhood computer science with projects of national and international visibility. Bers is the co-creator of the free ScratchJr programming language, used by 35 million children, and the creator of the KIBO robotic kit, which has no screens or keyboards.
Steve Horowitz is an American composer, performing musician, producer, audio engineer, author, and teacher from Brooklyn, New York.
Lovevery is an American company based in Boise, Idaho that produces Montessori-inspired toys and play-kit subscription boxes for children. It is a certified B Corporation.
Tinybop is a Brooklyn based publisher of apps for children.
