Osmo

$80, iPad 2 or later (with camera), iPad Mini

Teaches: spatial learning, logic, art, science, socialization, large group, huddle

CTR Rating: 88%

CTR Review

See also Osmo Coding http://reviews.childrenstech.com/ctr/fullreview.php?id=19223The world of apps and screens meets the world of real tangram blocks, objects like pens, coins or anything else you might have in your pocket, with Osmo, an easy to use iPad accessory released this month from Tangible Play. The $80 kit contains a tiny mirror and plastic stand that is designed to turn real objects into their digital counterparts, in real time. There are three free apps that work with any regular sized iPad (not the larger iPad Pro) with a front facing camera. Tangram lets you arrange tangible colored puzzle pieces into matching on?screen shapes, for real time feedback. We watched groups of children playing collaboratively to solve the puzzle. The sandbox app is called Newton and lets you use pen and pencil sketches (or actual objects) to guide falling items down the screen toward targets. It's like Line Rider with real things. Because the camera can read real letters, the third app, called Words, lets you solve word puzzles. Words is a lot of fun with a group, but some of the pictures that are used as the clues are unrelated to the word. Still, the guessing is fun. After two weeks of testing, we found Osmo to have a high novelty effect, but testers soon lost interest in the two of the three apps (Newton and Tangrams). Tip: Mount the setup on a white board to save paper for Newton. The favorite game was Words, because of the way it helped children work together. Note also that all three apps are power intensive, because the camera is always on. You'll want to keep your iPad always plugged in. The bottom line? For $100 you get a pretty expensive base and tiny plastic mirror. The mirror uses something Tangible Play calls "Reflective Artificial Intelligence." Tanglible Play is based in San Francisco and was developed within Stanford's StartX program.