A Hackney company hopes to get kids moving and computing at the same time, with their new creation: a digitally interactive ball.
Hackaball, created by Map – a Hackney-based creative consultancy – has just been launched on the crowd-funding website Kickstarter to raise funds for the project.
Senses movement
Map built the tough outer layer of the ball that is protected by a silicone layer. Kids will be able to peel the layer off and open the ball up to reveal the internal hardware – which was designed by digital innovation company, Made by Many.
The ball, aimed at six to 10 year olds, allows kids to program their own games using a corresponding iPad app, which they can then play with friends. It can sense movement and changes colour when it’s dropped, bounced, kicked and shaken. It even plays sounds and vibrates.
765 Kickstarter sponsors
Kids will be able to make their own games by changing the colour, sounds and the vibration patterns by using the iPad app.
John Marshall, Design Director of Map, said that Hackaball was designed to get youngsters experimenting when they play.
He said: “We wanted Hackaball to encourage play that is open-ended and experimental. We’ve designed it to be taken apart so its inner workings can be explored, played with and built into projects.”
The project already has 765 sponsors on Kickstarter and has managed to raise almost £45,000 of its £66,000 target. But the group have yet to announce a retail price.
