Symphony Painter
© 2004 Fisher-Price, Inc.
Drag your stylus (or finger) across the Pixter touch screen, to leave a colored line. Next, touch a "play" button, and a scanner line moves across the screen from left to right, roughly translating the line into a stream of sounds. The more lines, the more sounds, and each color creates a different sound effect. Unfortunately, the clunky menu blurs the relationship between graphics and sounds, which is unfortunate given the creativity premise of this title. In a free-painting mode, a 32 item clip art library is all related to concerts, singers and so on. There's also a game of musical follow-the-leader. Weaknesses include a limitation on what each screen can hold (after too many items are added, the overloaded Pixter beeps at you). Also, erasing a line is not a straightforward process, which curtails creative energy. While the idea is a good one, it is not implemented well in this product. Learn more about the development of this project at http://www.media.mit.edu/press/symphpainter/pixter-release.html.
$19.99, Pixter, Smart Toy
Teaches: creativity, music