Re-Imagining Toys: Merging the Physical & Digital
What does it mean that kids are requesting iPads over train sets for Christmas? Or that one of the fastest growing segment of iPad users are kids under age 12? Kids today interact with digital devices by 6 months and can teach their parents a few things by age 3. As it seeks to navigate the rapidly changing demands of iPad and iPod-equipped children, the $40B global toy industry stands at a crossroads. If play is the original social activity, we straddle a future of play where real-world toys and games merge with virtual adventures. During this presentation, the principals of Nukotoys, a Silicon Valley startup that endeavored to bridge the physical with the digital in the form of trading cards, will share their vision for the future of toys and the way kids play, illustrating how 21st century technology and business concepts can be applied to the art and craft of toys, enabling a toys-as-service approach as never before possible.
Presenters
Dr. North holds bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in engineering with focuses on mechanical design, rapid prototyping, and biomimetic nanotechnology. He’s published in a half dozen major scientific journals, including the journal Nature; and continues to speak internationally on design and innovation.
Mike masterminded builds on the Discovery Channel show Prototype This!, where he led teams of crack inventors, scientists, builders, and engineers to create never before seen spectacles of engineering. Inventions ranged from an omni-directionally driving stilt lifting traffic busting truck to a 30-foot tall waterslide simulator to cutting-edge lifesaving fire fighting equipment.
Mike is now focusing his energy on developing a the ReAllocate community, setting long term strategies, developing capacity building curriculum, and traveling the world spreading the word. In his free time Mike has a design and rapid prototyping firm, North Design Labs, which focuses on rapid innovation, design, and prototyping.
Sunday, March 10
