The real test of any toy for me starts with that magical moment when you first open the box. If I get that “Christmas morning” kind of feeling, we’re on to a good start.

LEGO hits the spot every time, as there’s no sweeter sound in the world than that magic rattling of plastic bricks. But I digress somewhat.

With Educational toys it’s a bit more of a tall order though. They’re a bit like vegetables, in that it’s possible for them to be delicious, but the fact they’re supposed to be good for us raises suspicion (or maybe that’s just my self-destructive personality talking).

The test for any toy starts with that magic moment when you open the box
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Opening up my goodie box from Technology Will Save Us (TWSU), however, I got that familiar feeling of delight, mixed with a small measure of regret that I  wasn’t a kid any more. As this technically counted as work though, that didn’t matter, so I settled down to happily play with the pretty shiny things.

Technology Will Save Us kits are quite beautiful
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The TWSU kits are quite beautiful. Each is based around a theme or project, and comes with all the hardware that you need to build something fun while learning about technology (and a bunch of other things).

My DIY Gamer kit contained all the components to make a handheld games console
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My DIY Gamer kit contained all the components for me to put together a handheld games console, powered by the Arduino Uno which came with it. Once you have the hardware setup, you can go online and use the step-by-step manuals and videos to code your own games. You’re also encouraged to tap into the extensive Arduino Open Source community and invent your own projects.

You’re encouraged to tap into the Arduino Open Source community and invent your own projects
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With my thirsty plant kit I built a solar-powered moisture sensor
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My other little box of delights contained a “Thirsty Plant Kit” where you build a solar-powered plaster of paris moisture sensor. I love the fact it provides all sorts of outlets for teaching kids about biology, and even encourage them to care for nature and living things by understanding more about what they need in order to survive and thrive. I didn’t go as far as turning it into a water bomb like the kit instructions suggested, but I loved having the option.

I loved the fact you have the option to turn the kit into a water bomb
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Technology Will Save Us reached their Kickstarter goal in around 48 hours
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Technology Will Save Us Co-founder and CEO Bethany Koby tells me that their kits were designed to encourage active play and adventure with technology as well as learning. They should be a fun option for the summer holidays, not something that comes across as a chore or extra study.

Earlier this year TWSU launched a crowdfunding campaign for their first wearable, the Mover Kit, and reached 90% of their Kickstarter goal in the first 48 hours. Since then they raised 3 times that, totalling over $129,000 from 1800 backers in 60 countries. They’ve also secured retail partnerships to market the kits in various territories and been selected as the “toy to watch” in 2016 by Forbes.

These kits apply the principles of agile design and user-centricity
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They also partnered up with  global coding club network CoderDojo that lets anybody donate Mover Kit packs to young coders anywhere in the world. a global network of coding clubs

To a self-confessed technophile, and someone who’s worked with more than my fair share of startups, what’s striking about these kits is the elegance with which they apply principles such as agile development and user-centricity. These approaches – which require constant testing and iteration – are at the heart of product development where it comes to apps and software, but here you see them in everything from the attractive colour scheme of the boxes to the careful layout and presentation of the components.

Everything is carefully labelled, with clear and prominent instructions which manage not to sound patronising even to an adult.These are all things that make the user experience flow very smoothly, whether you’re a child or a slightly-older-but-still-in-their-prime person.

Everything is carefully labelled, with clear and prominent instructions
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So if you’re starting to run out of ideas of what to do to entertain the kids during the summer holidays, technology really could come to the rescue in more ways than one.

Happy hacking!

These are great projects if you're stuck for ideas of what to do with the kids for #summerholidays
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Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Why Playing With Tech Will Save Us appeared first on Tech Trends.

Vodafone is developing smart beachwear and luggage using IoT technology.

Vacationing is something most of us look forward to all year, and chances are that you’ll be headed for the beach this summer for some much-needed R&R.

Vodafone is developing a suite of connected IoT holiday devices
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But holidays can be really stressful. Your luggage gets lost; the kids wander off; you forget the sun cream, and before you know it your skin turns a healthy shade of beetroot.*

That’s where Vodafone thinks technology can help. The company announced that it developed a proof-of-concept suite of holiday essentials using connected Internet of Things (IoT) technology. This includes ‘a Smart Summer’ bikini and men’s swim shorts equipped with UV sensors that track exposure to sunlight throughout the day, and notifies you – either through a smartphone app or via a small vibrating alert built into the waistband and strap of the outfits – when you’ve had too much exposure to those harmful rays.

Can IoT technology help alleviate holiday-related stress?
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UV sensors embedded in your swimwear warn you when you've been out in the sun too long
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Embedded tracking devices send parents alerts if their child wanders off
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That same tracking technology was also applied to suitcases, which could cut down on the annoyance experienced by nearly 30% of European holiday-makers who reported having lost luggage issues during their travels, and finding the best carry-on luggage can be a challenge in itself.

Why is Vodafone designing trunks and bikinis?
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It works by combining three separate tracking methods and low-power Bluetooth technology for near-range tracking, showing the user’s proximity to the child’s sun hat or suitcase using a ‘hotter’ or ‘colder’ graphical representations on the smartphone app.

But why is Vodafone designing bikinis and trunks all of a sudden, you may well ask?

It’s all part of a bigger trend towards connecting real objects with data. We’re soon going to see a rollout of low-cost, low-power ‘Narrowband IoT’ devices (think battery lives of 10+ years) which will radically transform and permeate every aspect of our lives. Recent research indicates that more than half of consumer technology companies intended to bring new IoT products and services to market within the next two years.

By next year we will be experiencing a new wave of low-cost, low-power IoT Devices coming to market
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Those connected devices, in turn, will all plug into the mobile networks that telecoms giants such as Vodafone provide, so they’re keen to accelerate the process by demonstrating the mass market potential applications of this technology in everyday consumer devices. The company claims that its global IoT networks will be able to support more than one million such devices per square kilometre simultaneously.

“Companies in every industry are already embracing IoT technologies and see these as critical to their future,” says Vodafone Group Director of IoT Erik Brenneis. “The launch of new Narrowband IoT networks next year will take this remarkable revolution to a whole new level.”

So maybe by next summer we will actually be seeing such designs in the shops. In the meantime though, watch those kids and remember to pack the factor 50. Happy summer!

* A Pan-European Vodafone and YouGov online survey found that almost half of Europeans (48%) forget to apply sunscreen, and 76% said they would be more likely to cover up they received an automated alert about it.

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Your Summer Holidays Are About to Get A Whole Lot Smarter appeared first on Tech Trends.