Published : Feb. 19, 2016 - 14:11
On February 16, Attocube (CEO: Sangtaek Han) announced that it will be participating in the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on February 22 through the sponsorship of the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation and KT. A startup company that develops smart toys, Attocube will be displaying the “Attocube,” an educational product for children that features wooden blocks that can be used in conjunction with a mobile application, at this year’s congress.
Children playing with different versions of the Attocube. The one on the left is the mobile application-only version, while the one on the right is the combined online-offline version.
The Attocube comes in three versions: offline, online, and combined online-offline. The offline version consists of a set of nine wooden blocks, each side of which is imprinted with a different image. According to the company, the blocks can be positioned to create a total of 2.3 billion possible image combinations. The online version displays the cubes via a mobile application, allowing the user to form image combinations via direct input to a smartphone or tablet.
The product the company is most actively promoting is the combined online-offline version, which encourages children to arrange physical blocks according to images displayed on a mobile device. After placing a reflector over the camera lens of a smartphone or tablet, the user runs the mobile application, which display images of block combinations on the screen. Children can then position the physical blocks to recreate these images, and their progress is displayed in real-time on the screen as the application uses the camera of the mobile device to detect the positions of the blocks. Once one image is completed, the next image to be “solved” appears immediately.
Proven to enhance visual, auditory and tactile skills and logical thinking abilities, the Attocube promotes multi-sensory development in children between the ages of three and four. The images created through the Attocube represent language, numbers, and even musical moods. The toy is also an effective way of developing color and pattern recognition skills and teaching the concepts of a “whole” and “parts of a whole.” An Attocube spokesperson stated, “Our product has outstanding educational benefits in terms of emotional and physical development, particularly improved perception skills and hand-eye coordination.”
Attocube will release the Attocube in Korea next month, and will continue to develop and strengthen the connection between the online and offline components and provide improved content through the mobile application. Attocube is also preparing to release its products in China and other countries.
jshwang@heraldcorp.com