Deciding that the lowly building block was due for an upgrade, researchers at MIT have created something amazing. The simple-looking M-Blocks are made from an aluminum frame filled with electronics, an electric motor that can spin up to 20,000 rpm, and a flywheel. And they can perform some amazing feats without any human intervention.
Meet the wannabe modular smartwatch that intends to offer a fully customisable wearable experience, by allowing the user to choose which sensors and features make sense for their wrist — whether it’s a basic fitness band they’re after, or a more fully featured smartwatch. Read More
When you have a newborn son and want to give him some cool toys, I can’t think of anything better than making something yourself. That’s what Jonathan G. did here, making these cool laser-engraved wood blocks for his child.
He started his work on them before the baby was even born, but didn’t finish until his son’s first birthday. Look at the image here and you will see why. These are some nicely detailed alphabet blocks, clearly made with love. There are 36 blocks in all. They cover the English alphabet and ten digits, showing 134 images of people, animals, monsters, robots, vehicles, organizations, devices, tools, and objects from some of our favorite movies, TV shows, books, comics, video games, and more.
You can check out all of the individual block designs up close on Flickr.
Great job, Jonathan. It looks like your son’s geek education is off to a great start.
[via Nerd Approved]
Check out these awesome kids blocks from Invisible Creature. These colorful blocks are called Stack and Scare for obvious reasons. You stack ‘em up and have a good scare with the monsters that you create. There are four different sets of stackable wooden blocks that look like monster parts.
The pieces contain eyeballs, teeth, horns, heads, arms, legs, hands, feet, everything you need to create your monsters. The Stack and Scare blocks are available to purchase online at Uncle Goose for $48(USD) a set.
LEGO is great, but these blocks are really colorful and fun in their own way. I think many adults would have just as much fun as the kids when playing with these sets.
[via Chris Glass via Laughing Squid]
Kids these days don’t want to play with wooden blocks—they want to play wooden block games on a tablet. But Felix Heibeck has come up with a wonderful way to lure kids away from their touchscreens by adding electronic and interactive blocks to those wooden marble mazes, cleverly bridging both worlds.
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Cars, boats, trains, planes. They’re all pretty standard kids’ toys, and there’s nothing wrong with them either. But maybe you want your offspring to get too familiar with something a little more sophisticated at that formative age. How about some nuclear power plant blocks? More »
Terrible aesthetics and children’s toys go hand in hand. Barbie’s “Dreamhouse” is an uninspired architectural disaster, and the font used on most alphabet blocks leaves design-minded parents actually missing Comic Sans. But what’s the alternative? How about a set of alphabet blocks with beautiful typography and iconography that also happen to assemble into a miniature model of the iconic Eames House. More »
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