Gadgetory

is your child's next toy going to be virtual i'm rafe needleman at the augmented reality event Santa Clara talking to miles Ludwick from the Sesame Workshop tell me about what my kid is going to be using next well Rafe we're looking at how can augmented reality create new kinds of educational experiences that can help us teach kids numbers and letters and all the other important skills that are part of what Sesame Street does and working with Qualcomm and and using their view Fauria engine we've been able to build a prototype in which children can play with familiar Sesame Street figures like Ernie here place Ernie into a room and Ernie comes to life he becomes an animated character that's right so it's kids are able to play with physical objects just as they might play with a playset or a dollhouse but then looking at them through the tablet looking at the scene they've created and the choices that they've made it animates the characters come to life and they start suggesting in educational storylines and ways of interaction interacting that will bring learning how do you interact you move them around you talk to them ok what you can you can move them around you can so if I place this object into the room for example this jukebox boom now we're having a dance party disco Ernie huh all right exactly and one of the things that we're testing with kids because our our organization is very research driven as a non-profit everything that we do is about getting out there putting things in front of kids and finding out what engages them and what ultimately drives educational outcomes why is giving my kid a virtual reality app and a fragile tablet better than just give me a couple of toys oh I wouldn't necessarily say that it was better but our mission is to help children reach their fullest potential and we avail ourselves of every option every platform every technology that parents ultimately are going to be choosing to put in front of their kids we want to make sure there's something positive and constructive for them so when are our kids going to get this I hope you'll see it next year alright thanks a lot thanks Rafe for cnet i'm rafe needleman