About the Ozobot

Observe a kid afterschool and he’ll probably be “playing” with an assortment of digital devices from tablets and smart phones to wireless controllers and Apps. Technology is their normal and augments everything they do from homework to family game night. What’s next? A board game where the pieces move themselves a la The Jetsons? Actually, yes! Introducing Ozobot, the one-inch robot that moves kids from augmented reality back to physical play.

Like Dorothy following the yellow brick road to Oz, kids 13 and up use color — black, red, green and blue – as the building blocks in their learning of a very basic coding language to program Ozobot to follow a path forward, backwards, fast, slow, right, left and more. So clever is the technology that the bot can move on physical surfaces like paper and digital planes like an iPhone or iPad. Its ability to “see” colored lines and know the difference between them is the basis for all the activities and games you can play with Ozobot – like Ozoluck, OzoPath and OzoDraw (all free on the Apple and Google Play app stores.)  With more free apps coming down the road and the Christmas shopping season ramping up, Ozobot is sure to be on everyone’s list this year.  If you’re not convinced, just check out this video to see Ozobot in action.

Ozobot has charmed geeks and toy masters at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and the American International Toy Fair, with USA Today and Popular Science giving Ozobottheir Best Tech Toys of Toy Fair distinction. Dr. Toy has placed Ozobot on her 10 Best Technology list for 2014. The Ozobot is now available for $49.99 for a single pack and $99.99 for the dual pack at places like brookstone.com, momastore.org and Amazon.com and The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) Design Store. Speaking of MOMA, if you live by one of these stores you can see the Ozobot in action on the following dates at some in-store events:

From 1pm to 6pm:
Monday 12/1
MoMA Design Store, 44 West 53 Street
Tuesday 12/2
MoMA Design and Book Store, 11 West 53 Street
Wednesday 12/3
MoMA Design Store, Soho, 81 Spring Street
Thursday 12/4
MoMA Design and Book Store, 11 West 53 Street
Friday 12/5
MoMA Design Store, Soho, 81 Spring Street

My Take on the Ozobot

Below you can watch my video explaining my thoughts on the Ozobot. This was a great little Robot that truly does teach some basic tenets to programming language. I loved working with my eldest daughter with this and she seemed to completely “get” the principles right away. After doing the below video we ventured off and started teaching our Ozobots more and played with different patters and got them doing some very fun things. That is the best part of these Ozobots, there really is no limit to what you may have them do, only the limits of your own creativity. This is the perfect gift that will challenge, teach and entertain. I highly recommend this to one and all!

 

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