How The Technology is Influencing The Toys

Written by   Mary Turner   on    13 May, 2019     0      

Recently I was searching for a good toy for my nephew’s birthday that was coming at the weekend. After surfing the internet for a few minutes I realized that the toys have changed very drastically from the time we were children.

The most technological advance toy a kid could have was an RC car. However, if you compare it to the toys that are available in today’s world, your mind will be blown.

For example, I came across a toy called Shifu’s Globe that uses Augmented Reality(AR) to teach a kid about the world. Just a few years back AR was this path-breaking technology, and it is now integrated into a kid’s toy.

Then, I came across a Rubik’s cube that came with an app. This app will help the player by making a virtual copy of the cube and would solve it if the player gets stuck at some point.

This made me realize how quickly the new technology becomes stale in today’s day and age, how quickly an expensive technology can become cheap.

And, this is not the case with only fun toys, the education toys are onto a whole new level. I remember lighting up a bulb using a series of batteries would make me feel like a scientist. And now, there is a Snap Circuit set that allows you to build various simple devices just by snapping the electronic components together.

How can we not talk about drone when we talking about technology integration in a child’s toys. Earlier the drones were heavier and less predictable. Now if you type ‘drone for kids’ you’ll find 10 types of drone that can fit on your palm.

But, why is it important to talk or even think about this technological revolution? First of all, we have to realize that we are at a very high level of abstraction. Semiconductors are perfected, various wireless technologies are there, we can count trees from satellites.

But, if you compare this level of abstraction to the level at which this younger generation would be in when they grow up, you would realize there is absolutely no comparison.

A child who is growing up with so many amazing technologically advanced toys and gadgets will be sitting at a level of abstraction that the next step would be space travel or genetically altered human beings. Since he/she doesn’t have to worry about finding a wireless technology, they can spend their time finding a way through which you can read signals from the brain and translate them into actions. Brain-controlled robots would be a great example of it.

And, it is not that far away in the future. There is a toy named Mindflex by Mattel that allows you brain control it. I know it is at a very basic stage, but technology has a way to evolve overnight. You might wake up one morning to read news about a brain-controlled drone being invented by a group of nerds in their garage.

Sensor Alive is yet another technologically advanced game that allows you to gather data using 3 stylish sensors and combine that data to create virtual animals.

Even the most sophisticated and creative mind would not be able to imagine what amazing technology lies ahead in the future for regular use by regular people.

Using technology to make learning better is likely the moto for the toy manufacturing companies nowadays, as there are so many toys available in the market that are specific to teach a subject. For example, various chemistry kits allow even small kids to build a 3D model of a molecule and convert it into a virtual model using their app.

This goes for each and every topic you can think of. If you want your kid to run around; there are laser gun sets, if you want your kid to make animation movies; there are movie-making sets. Anything you can think of is available in the market. You can check out these engineering toys if your kid is interesting in becoming an engineer.

The purpose of this article was to make you realize how ubiquitous, the technology has become and to give you a glimpse of what it can be within a few decades.