{"id":337840,"date":"2017-04-07T05:25:44","date_gmt":"2017-04-06T21:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1473903"},"modified":"2017-04-07T05:25:44","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T21:25:44","slug":"how-osmo-decides-to-make-its-tangible-high-tech-toys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/how-osmo-decides-to-make-its-tangible-high-tech-toys\/","title":{"rendered":"How Osmo decides to make its tangible, high-tech toys"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/09\/osmo.jpg?w=738\" class=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A huge number of toys today include high-tech and interactive components that keep kids in front of screens. But when it comes to health and educational development, multiple studies have found that kids benefit from things like <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/ed\/2015\/02\/12\/385264747\/q-a-blocks-play-screen-time-and-the-infant-mind\">building with blocks,<\/a>\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nwitimes.com\/niche\/shore\/health\/using-your-other-hand-benefits-your-brain\/article_6da931ea-b64f-5cc2-9583-e78f179c2425.html\">playing with both hands<\/a>\u00a0and looking <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.aoa.org\/patients-and-public\/caring-for-your-vision\/protecting-your-vision\/computer-vision-syndrome?sso=y\">away from screens<\/a> for 20 seconds at least every 20 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>A\u00a0startup called <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.playosmo.com\/en\/\">Osmo<\/a>, which launched at TechCrunch\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/video\/tangible-play-brings-videogame-magic-to-physical-games\/517929268\/\">Startup Battlefield in 2013<\/a>, has dedicated itself to designing toys that bridge the digital and physical. \u201cKids won\u2019t stop being obsessed with smartphones and tablets,\u201d says CEO and co-founder Pramod Sharma. Instead,\u00a0his company finds\u00a0ways to keep them engaged with their physical environment,\u00a0while they keep\u00a0a screen nearby.<\/p>\n<p>TechCrunch went behind the scenes at the company\u2019s Palo Alto headquarters to see how <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2016\/12\/08\/osmo-raises-24-million-from-sesame-mattel-and-other-big-names-in-toys-and-education\/\">Osmo<\/a> decides to build a new toy or game. One innovation engine at Osmo is the company\u2019s\u00a0semi-annual DREAMWEEK Hackathon, a five-day brainstorming, design and development exercise for employees only.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube c5\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player c4\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"390\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rysbogSJPfo?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>At the hackathon, employees who don\u2019t normally work together every day get together to create new toys, games or extensions to add to Osmo\u2019s existing product line.<\/p>\n<p>One of\u00a0Osmo\u2019s popular\u00a0products is an\u00a0interactive version of Tangrams, which asks kids to rearrange geometric pieces to form the shape of an animal, or another image displayed on an iPad screen. Another is a word game that asks\u00a0kids to take letter-tiles from a pile and place them in front of a\u00a0tablet or smartphone\u00a0to reveal the\u00a0word hidden behind blanks on the screen. In person, multiple players scramble to place letters that will complete each word.<\/p>\n<p>Osmo\u2019s software uses the camera of a tablet or smartphone\u00a0to see how each player is progressing. The Osmo Tangrams\u00a0app can see when a player has successfully pieced together a desired image, for example, and the Osmo Words app can congratulate the player who just completed a word.<\/p>\n<p>To end its\u00a0internal hackathon, Osmo convenes a final demo day where employees observe each other\u2019s pitches, and\u00a0decide as a group which concept will proceed to full development. The decision is not a vote from executives or judges who are subject-matter experts, but is more democratic. An executive\u2019s vote may break a tie, however.<\/p>\n<p>Sharma told TechCrunch that even though \u201cinternal hackathons\u201d seem like the domain of larger companies, such as Facebook, Google or Microsoft, Osmo decided to start running these about 3 years ago to ensure that as the company grows, it maintains a close-knit feeling among employees, and to reinforce the idea that innovation can and should come from everyone involved at the company, not just a special team.<\/p>\n<p>At its most recent hackathon, TechCrunch saw concepts presented that ranged from\u00a0a physical, card-trading game, to a build-your-own-hero app, and an app to help parents connect with and learn about their own kids, emotionally and socially. But the most recent winning concept was a\u00a0multi-player feature that will make games like Words playable between friends, or groups, who are far apart. Kids who became besties at summer camp can keep competing with each other after they go home to their respective towns with Words multi-player.<\/p>\n<p>While her team\u2019s concept did not win the vote to become the company\u2019s next product, Osmo user experience designer Duygu Daniels said, \u201cDuring our day today we have a bunch of ideas\u2026 This is a dedicated week where we get to execute on them and\u00a0be in that spirit of innovation in a really intense way.\u201d She, and other Osmo employees, said they look forward to the internal hackathon\u00a0all year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"453\" src=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/09\/osmo.jpg?w=680\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/09\/osmo.jpg?w=680 680w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/09\/osmo.jpg?w=1360 1360w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/09\/osmo.jpg?w=150 150w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/09\/osmo.jpg?w=300 300w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/09\/osmo.jpg?w=768 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/>&nbsp;Many toys today include high-tech and interactive components that keep kids in front of screens. But when it comes to health and educational development, studies have found that kids benefit from things like building with blocks, playing with both hands and looking away from screens at least every 20 minutes. Osmo has dedicated itself to designing toys that bridge the digital and physical. <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2017\/04\/06\/how-osmo-decides-to-make-its-tangible-high-tech-toys\/?ncid=rss\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=GQMvUXYgZ0I:Y6RibIs0L8w:2mJPEYqXBVI\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?d=2mJPEYqXBVI\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=GQMvUXYgZ0I:Y6RibIs0L8w:7Q72WNTAKBA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?d=7Q72WNTAKBA\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=GQMvUXYgZ0I:Y6RibIs0L8w:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=GQMvUXYgZ0I:Y6RibIs0L8w:-BTjWOF_DHI\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?i=GQMvUXYgZ0I:Y6RibIs0L8w:-BTjWOF_DHI\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=GQMvUXYgZ0I:Y6RibIs0L8w:D7DqB2pKExk\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?i=GQMvUXYgZ0I:Y6RibIs0L8w:D7DqB2pKExk\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=GQMvUXYgZ0I:Y6RibIs0L8w:qj6IDK7rITs\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?d=qj6IDK7rITs\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/Techcrunch\/~4\/GQMvUXYgZ0I\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"\/> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-337840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337840\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}