\nby: Lauren Goode
\nMay 14, 2013<\/p>\n
There are apps that teach kids the basics of programming.<\/p>\n
And then there are robots that get the job done.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the vision of a group of four tech entrepreneurs who late last year formed a company called Play-i with the purpose of creating educational robots for kids.<\/p>\n The Bay Area-based company is still very much in the early stages of building out its bots and determining their form and functionality.<\/p>\n Vikas Gupta, Play-i<\/a>\u2019s founder and CEO, said the robots will be targeted at children aged 5 to 8, and will most likely work in conjunction with tablets. Using a tablet or other mobile device running compatible software, the child will be able to program his or her robot to perform certain actions.<\/p>\n Gupta said the company is aiming to keep the price point low \u2014 very low. Unlike the personal robots we\u2019ve seen to date, Play-i wants to keep its bots at under $100, making it a direct-to-consumer play.<\/p>\n But Play-i is light on other details. It\u2019s unclear how large or powerful the robots will be, whether they\u2019ll have a humanoid shape or take on more of a mechanical form, and ultimately, which software they\u2019ll run on or work with. And the robots won\u2019t necessarily speak. (Although, one thing is certain: These aren\u2019t the super-poweful robots that are going to do your chores for you.)<\/p>\n So, why robots, when there are plenty of lightweight and tablet-friendly apps now that teach kids how to program? The Play-i team believes that learning should be tangible and fun, and that bossing hardware robots around is more interesting than, say, instructing an animated bot to draw a line.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe tangible interaction is what grabs children, something that\u2019s much more engaging for them beyond just having a software screen in front of them,\u201d Gupta said.<\/p>\n And what was cost-prohibitive a few years ago in robotics isn\u2019t as pricey any more, Gupta said, with the increasing accessibility of sensors in the market and the advancements in processors.<\/p>\n Play-i is the brainchild of Gupta, who in his last role was the head of consumer payments at Google; Mikal Greaves, formerly of Frog Design; Saurabh Gupta, who led the iPod software team at Apple from 2006 to 2012; and Imran Kahn, previously the head of marketing at Eloan and Symantec.<\/p>\n The company just secured $1 million in seed funding from Google Ventures, Madrona Venture Group and individual private investors. Later this summer, Play-i will launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise more money for production.<\/p>\n (The photo above was taken at a museum in Moscow and is not indicative of Play-i\u2019s product plans. Photo courtesy of Liza Azarova\/Flickr Creative Commons.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One Robot Per Child? Former Googler, Apple Engineer Tackle Educational Bots. from: All Things D by: Lauren Goode May 14, 2013 There are apps that teach kids the basics of programming. And then there are robots that get the job … Continue reading ![\"KidsRobots\"](\"http:\/\/blog.dan-kohn.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/KidsRobots-300x210.jpg\")
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