Tag: kids
Fisher Price aims to get kids out of the crack dens, and into exercise and gaming
The things parents have to do these days to convince the kids to get off the darn couch and exercise already.
With recent reports that the obesity problem in the UK will be on scale with global warming in a few years time, the Smart Cycle from Fisher Price sounds ideal for provoking kids to develop an interest in keeping…
VWFE: Live-blogging 'the future is blurred: social networking meets virtual worlds'
Now this is the panel we’ve all been waiting for! Featuring Meg Pickard from The Guardian, Corey Bridges the Co-founder of The Multiverse Network, Aleks Krotoski from The Guardian Games Blog, Cory Doctorow from Boing Boing, and Giff Constable from the software business unit at the Electric Sheep company.
First question out of the gate is whether social networking sites are any different to virtual worlds. Meg Pickard claims that it’s pretty much the same thing, “they’re exploring, they’re creating, they’re dominating or trying to succeed”, and above all, engaging with other users or friends.
Aleks Krotoski, who is also doing a PhD in virtual worlds, also agrees with Meg, but says the only real difference is that social networking sites generally connects people who know each other already offline, whereas…
VWFE: Live-blogging 'From e-tail to v-business: are virtual goods an entirely new category?'
Virtual worlds thrive on money, after all, it’s what keeps the servers running, and the gamers happy. But how does a company create revenue, through sales of virtual goods? How can this sector continue to grow, when sites like Facebook have seen free gifts application hacks made available, so paid-for gifts are no longer necessary?
These questions, and more, are due to be asked in the upcoming panel, where the Senior Editor at Harvard Business Review, Paul Hemp, Professor Michael Hulme from the Centre for Study of Media, Technology & Culture, David Orban CEO of Questar, Mat Small, CEO and Founder of Millions of Us, and Peter Edward, Director at Home Platform Group for Sony Computer Entertainment will attempt to answer this questions.
Adam Pasick is once again moderating this panel, and asks Peter from SCEE about their virtual goods use within the Home Platform. He explains that virtual goods allow you to decorate your avatar, show your…
VWFE: Live-blogging 'In-world or off-message: what are the brand challenges in virtual worlds?'
This panel is once again moderated by Adam Pasick, Reuters Bureau Chief at Second Life, and features Daan Josephus Jitta, Direct Channels and Innovation, at ABN AMRO, and Marco van Veen, Manager, Web, Innovation & Collaboration Center, for Heineken.
Marco van Veen takes the stage first, and begins by admitting they don’t have a virtual world, however they are looking at featuring in virtual worlds, through advertising. Obviously being a beer manufacturer, he says they still have a responsibility to ensure minors aren’t targeted by their…
VWFE: Live-blogging 'Kidalicious: are kids and teenagers the future for virtual worlds?'
Ooh! Ooh! The good one we’ve all been looking forward to today. Alice Taylor, Commissioning Editor at Education at Channel 4, plus woman behind the brilliant Wonderland gamer blog, is on this panel, as is Michael Smith, the CEO and Founder of MindCandy, who are here today promoting Moshi Monsters.
Timo Soininen, CEO at Sulake and Habbo, Mark William Hansen from the Lego Universe, Mattias Mikshe, CEO of Stardoll and Marc Goodchild, Head of Interactive and On-Demand at BBC Children’s make up the rest of the panel, which is moderated by Adam Pasick, the Reuters Bureau Chief at Second Life.
Money made within games created for children is mentioned, and whether it’s worth adding a fiscal element to games. Someone on the panel argues that this is the first generation being hit with the wave of virtual games, and they’ll grow up accustomed…
YouTube Video of the Day – Kids workshop animation
When I was a kid, I liked nothing better than idling or charging around and falling over until I bled. These days, kids want a bit more from life… like these clever rascals who attended an animation workshop and created something that looks like a French seventies kids show! Great stuff!
Bullet-resistant backpack offers protection from gunshot and other weaponry
In both the US and UK, the safety of kids both on and off school campuses is a high priority, and rightly so. Now Massachusetts-based MJ Safety Solutions is offering a special backpack containing a bullet- and edged-weapon-resistant panel, certified as a NIJ Level II plate which can withstand medium and low caliber rounds.
Adding 20 ounces in weight to the regular backpack, it will provide either back or front protection – but of course has to be held or worn in the appropriate place. I suppose if you had $350 to spare, and didn’t mind looking like an idiot, you could wear two.
MJ Safety claims that, of the 328 shootings in the US since Columbine in 1999, 97% could have been prevented by using their bags.
SEE toys: A range of eco-friendly toys charged by kid-power
The Zen Design Group is to launch a range of children’s toys which feature LEDs powered by a hand crank that the child operates to provide power to the rechargeable batteries.
SEE Toys (Safety, Ecology, and Economy) include Dynafly, a laughing bug which moves its arms and head and whose eyes and tail light up with LEDs when the crank is turned.
“I wasn’t trying to be trendy,” said company president, Sun Yu. “I looked at my product line one day and thought about how nice it would be to not have to replace and purchase batteries. The product I wanted to make just fit into the times.”
Survey reveals 7-year-old girls hooked on Nintendo DS, not Barbie
A new survey by the kids gift wish list web site Gogoblin.co.uk shows that a lot of young girls are no longer interested in the likes of Barbie – gaming technology is definitely the way to go if you want to remain a popular parent with your little darlings.
Boys tend to develop an interest in Gameboys and other hand held consoles from the age of four onwards, with girls latching onto the Nintendo DS by age seven.
From there on in, games consoles rule their lives until the teenage years, when technology had better consist of iPods, mobile phones, and computers, so that they can keep up with their hectic 21st century social life.
Turn your kids all Sith-like with this Star Wars Darth Vader laptop
I just saw these Darth Vader laptops from Oregon the other day in person, and before I had the chance to write about them, Alex at Shiny Shiny beat me to it. We’re just too good here, *hair flick*
Aimed at kiddywinks, or your mate who resembles Nick Frost just a little too much for comfort, these ‘laptops’ are actually activity centres for children which contain ‘mind-blowing games in logic, music and other breathtaking activities’. Use the interactive light sabre and ‘choose a learning path with Darth Vader’,..
