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For Wired.com readers, sometimes the usual toys just won’t do — we need
some technology and science to jumpstart our fun circuits. From sound labs
to RFID kits, check out the gifts we think will make your nerdy family and
friends’ eyes light up behind their taped-up, Coke-bottle glasses.
Thames and Kosmos Genetics and DNA kit
A well-written manual and a few snap-together models provide a good conceptual understanding of how DNA and genetics work. Some of the hands-on activities seem like nothing but busy work; others are invaluable at getting kids interested in the process of scientific experimentation.
One experiment takes you through the process of isolating DNA from tomatoes. Adult reviewers found it more difficult than the manual let on — which probably means that a kid should have no problem. You can also breed bacteria and then do some genetic engineering on them, but be careful — under the Patriot Act this stuff can get you thrown in jail.
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Few of us have held a lion cub in our arms while it purred. Now you can do the next best thing. WowWee, creator of a family of robots including Robosapien, Roboraptor and the giant talking Elvis head, has come up with four of the cutest plush toys since the invention of the teddy bear 100 years ago. Their Alive series consists of too-adorable-for-words robotic versions of four endangered animal cubs: Panda, White Tiger, Polar Bear and Lion.
They’re classified as plush because they are soft and cuddly and can’t stand or walk on their own. They’re classified as robots because WowWee has given them touch sensors, sound generators and exceptionally expressive faces. When you pet one, it looks up with its big blue kitten eyes and sighs — continue to pet it and it will purr (or the panda and polar bear equivalent) and close its eyes in delight, as your fully human heart melts into a puddle of small animal love all over the floor.
The uncanny valley has never been narrower; since so few of us know what these cubs look like up close, WowWee has designed replacements that look and behave as we expect them to. They’re so realistic they will also freak the hell out of your house cat.
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It looks like a homemade rowing machine. It’s more like a specially made vomit machine. But in a good way. DreamFlyer is basically a very carefully balanced recumbent chair with a joystick and monitor mount. Hook up your favorite flight simulator, strap yourself in and take off.
The chair magnifies your own body movements, so when you tilt the joystick in any direction, the chair actually pitches (18 degrees in either direction) or rolls (to a maximum of 50 degrees) or (get the barf bag) both. The only thing the chair can’t simulate is changing G-forces, which doesn’t seem to bother most people who have tried it. The tubular aluminum construction measures 3 feet by 6 feet, weighs next to nothing and can be stored upright when you don’t feel like doing aerobatics in your living room.
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Online gaming and fresh-air activities seem almost mutually exclusive, don’t they? The ME2 system from iToys aims to put a stop to that. One part of the toy is a cellphone-size game unit, the other part is an online virtual world. The trick: Kids earn points in the virtual world not by playing online, but by playing outdoors.
The game unit houses a three-axis accelerometer that measures how active the child is over the course of the day — more movement in real life (like running, playing basketball, etc.) equals more juice in the virtual world. A great idea, but a lot depends on whether kids will take to the handheld’s retro-ish monochrome LCD display screen. You, on the other hand, you can look at it as a hackable USB-equipped accelerometer in a snazzy case.
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OK, it’s not Mil Spec, and you shouldn’t use this when hunting the Taliban in Waziristan. Nevertheless, it is an honest-to-goodness infrared imaging system encased in a conspicuously large helmet for a child’s toy. (It’s almost like they know this is going to be dad’s night-vision system.)
An LED spotlight on the forehead throws an infrared beam approximately 50 feet, illuminating up the darkness with invisible rays that the vision sensor can detect. The spotlight also makes you stand out like a lighthouse to anyone else with a similar night-vision setup, so forget about midnight paintball ambushes if your opponent is similarly equipped.
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Thanks to the Safety Police, it’s next to impossible to get your hands on a good, well-stocked child’s chemistry set. They have yet crack down on electronics kits — but that’s probably next on the list, so get yours while you can.
The GeoSafari Digital Recording Lab is a beginners’ electronic kit for the 21st century. Spring-mounted resistors, capacitors and transistors make it easy to build simple but ingenious electronic circuits. The real selling point, though, is an RTS0073 CMOS integrated circuit, a very simple digital recording and playback chip.
The manual contains schematics and wiring diagrams for 59 different circuits, and the concepts behind each component are clearly given so it shouldn’t be too difficult for a smart kid to grasp of the world of integrated circuits — and then to start working on circuits of their own.
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State-of-the-art robotic designers are focusing more on interactivity these days than on mobility. Kota is a case in point. This robotic baby triceratops, as big as a medium-size dog, responds to petting by moving its head and tail, and emitting a friendly little dino-growl.
RFID sensors in its mouth allow it to “eat” RFID-equipped leaves (included). Children can “ride” Kota by sitting on its back and pretending, but for all its friendly responsiveness, Kota is a bit of a letdown as long as it just stands there. Your mission, should you chose to hack this toy, is to set it free.
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RFID tracking is here; why shouldn’t you get in on it? Alcatel-Lucent has come up with what is essentially a home RFID kit. You get a USB RFID reader and 10 sticky RFID tags, all for $50.
Attach the RFID tags to things around your home or office, install the software and you’re good to go. You can use your own programming skills to make your computer do various things when various RFID tags are presented to your reader, or use Tikitag’s application website to link your RFID tags to just about anything on the web.
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