Remember when you wanted to be Iron Man or The Hulk when you were a kid? Now it’s a little closer to reality thanks to Playmation.
Developed by Disney and Hasbro, Playmation combines active play, digital technology, and animation to keep children entertained without sitting in front of a screen. Players are told to run, jump, duck, dodge, and other physical activities through their missions, and includes toys and wearable tech that use smart technology like Bluetooth and motion sensors.
Right now the only wearable available are an arm device similar to Iron Man’s gauntlet, made by Avenger Labs, and Hulk hand gauntlets that come with JARVIS, Iron Man’s AI, working as a guide. The first set of toys will be from Marvel’s Avengers, available this fall. Star Wars characters won’t be released until 2016, and Frozen toys are still being developed, but will be released in 2017.
The first batch will consist of the Iron Man gauntlet, two figures, and two power activators for $120.
Each toy is equipped with new stories and missions. Along with this, heroes have abilities to teach kids and villains have maps. If the player can become strong enough to defeat the villains, they will also teach the kids new abilities. The heroes can fight with kids and the villains against them.
Smart toys don’t appeal to all parents. At a toy fair in February, in New York City, Mattel revealed Hello Barbie, a doll equipped with a microphone that uses Wi-Fi. Many issues arose when Mattel’s Barbie was equipped with voice recognition to “hear” kids and respond. This was made possible by sending the recordings online to a server that sent back appropriate responses.
There’s also Google’s patented smart teddybears. Besides the issues with recording conversations and log activity, especially with kids, the teddy bears could be used to control media devices like TVs, CD players, and even thermostats.
Playmation doesn’t require internet access to play, but can use it for other aspects of gameplay like using the app to track progress and playing more adventures.
While marketed towards kids six and up, Mashable has confirmed the toys fit adult hands.
Pre Ordering starts July 7, and shipping in October.
