BTA2023 AWARD-WINNING PRODUCTS ANNOUNCED!

BabyTech

A summary of Baby Tech products found at the Tokyo Toy Show 2019

The Tokyo Toy Show 2019 is being held at Tokyo Big Sight again this year. In recent years, not only so-called game toys but also a wide range of items have become IT-oriented. We covered the toys that fall into the category of Baby Tech's "Learning and Play" field and reported on them on Papa Smile Twitter. This article is a summary of that report.

All information was obtained at the trade fair (company day) on June 14 and does not include information released on the public days (June 15 and 16).

Sony Interactive Entertainment "toio

SIE, the company known for PlayStation®, has released toio, a robot device for learning programming, and in addition to the main set, a number of learning kits have been released.
Among them, "GOGO Robot Programming - The Secrets of Rosiibo" lets you program the behavior of a robot called "Enta" by arranging instruction chips and clearing the tasks in the booklet, making it a good introduction to programming for young children.
The target age range is officially stated by the manufacturer to be 6 years old, but we were told that "even children as young as 4 years old seem to enjoy playing this game with their parents or older children.
In fact, the booklet, which serves as the textbook, is designed with easy-to-read font size and all kanji characters in ruby, so that children can grasp the world view and issues without difficulty through the story. It may be difficult for preschoolers to learn on their own, but if they work on it together with their parents, they are likely to become absorbed in it.
Also, the robot movements are very cute, and it's popular among girls.

BabyTech.jp is considering to develop events such as introductory course of parent-child robot program using toio as a teaching material and parent-child robot hackathon for young children and their parents.

 

Takara Tomy Ibis, Wow Corporation "FamilyApps

A work experience app similar to "Gokko Land", which won the BabyTech Award Japan 2019 Grand Prize in the Learning and Play category, with work experience from 11 sponsors and work play without sponsorship. It's interesting from an adult's perspective to see that competing companies are sponsoring both Gokko Land and FamilyApps, and that the same company is offering jobs in both. (MUFG and SMBC are sponsoring each, JAL is sponsoring both, etc.)

 

TakaraTomy "Hey UchiPika", "Shogakukan no Zukan NEO Globe", "Sumikko sagashi

Takara Tomy had a variety of interesting challenge products.
The "Hey UchiPika" is a Pikachu-shaped learning remote control that can operate home appliances like a smart speaker using voice commands. This product doesn't support the internet and doesn't have any information functions, but it can learn the infrared remote control of home appliances and control them by voice.
There are many examples of smart speakers that even 3-year-olds can control with their voice, so this product will likely allow toddlers to talk to Pikachu and turn on the lights.

Shogakukan's Illustrated Book NEO Globe" was previously released in two tablet formats, "Shogakukan's Illustrated Book NEO Pad" (Ikimono Hen and Norimono + Kuraberu Hen).
This time, it's a smart globe with a pen-touch globe, information displays, quizzes, and games. The pad can be taken out and used by itself.

SUMIKKO-SAGASHI IS A SMALL NURTURING GAME WHERE YOU CAN USE THE CAMERA ON THE BACK OF THE DEVICE TO SEARCH FOR SUMIKKO HIDING IN ROOMS WITH AN AR-LIKE EFFECT. IT'S A SIMPLE PHOTO GAME THAT'S SURE TO BE POPULAR WITH YOUNG CHILDREN.

 

Joy Palette "Anpanman Sports Brain-Raising Mat

THIS IS A FEEL-GOOD MANIPULATION GAME IN WHICH THE CHARACTERS OF ANPANMAN, THE IRONCLAD IP FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS, PLAY SPORTS AGAINST EACH OTHER. THE CONTROLS ARE SIMPLE, WITH THE PLAYER MOVING THEIR BODY AND STEPPING ON THE MAT, BUT THERE ARE ALSO THINGS LIKE STEPPING ON THE CORRECT BUTTONS WHILE LOOKING AT THE SCREEN, AND THE DIRECTION OF THE GAME'S DEVELOPMENT THAT WILL KEEP CHILDREN ON THE EDGE OF THEIR SEATS, MAKING THIS A PRODUCT THAT CAN BE ENJOYED WITH YOUNG CHILDREN. WE EXPERIENCED THE PK SHOWDOWN BETWEEN ANPANMAN AND BAIKINMAN, AND FELT THAT THE GAME SCREEN, PRESENTATION, AND OPERABILITY WERE ALL MORE THAN NECESSARY AND WELL DONE.

 

SEGA TOYS "Anpanman Drive Car" and "Wonderful Channel

SegaToys is a manufacturer that has been consistently planning tech-like products.
The "Anpanman Drive Car" was claimed to be able to learn programming from the age of 3! The contents are written on the problem cards. The content of the game is to program a car with Anpanman on it, which is placed on a grid of field maps, to drive to a destination written on a problem card.
The method of programming is to press the direction of travel buttons on the Anpanman car in order. Even before the focus was on programmed learning, there were toys that could specify this kind of driving in steps.
My concern is that it seems hard to debug the Anpanman car if it moves incorrectly.

The Wonderful Channel" is a Kinect-like camera-based sensory control game that also claims to be an introduction to learning English. It's a dynamic game that requires physical movement, and the children who played it seemed to enjoy it. When you hit the balloons that appear on the screen with your body to destroy them, the color of the balloon is displayed in English, and the game talks. Purple! Green! Light green! It was quite lively. It was a very lively demonstration. The body recognition and the processing of the hit decision were smooth, and I felt that it was a well-developed system.

We believe that there will be many more internet-connected and pad-type devices released in the future. We will continue to watch for BabyTech products that allow preschoolers to play and learn in a fun way.

category