This Robot Can Teach Programming to Your 5-Year-Old
A friend of mine, well into his thirties, remembers going to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Penn., while growing up. There, he and his brothers would play a type of real-life video game — instead of playing with controllers and screens, they had to program robots to navigate through a course to win. Some 30 years later, this kind of technology is no longer reserved for institutions — soon, you'll be able to take it home. Play-i launched a crowdfunding campaign on Monday. The company will make two robots, Bo and Yana, which can be used individually or together (both have Bluetooth 4.0). Along with an iPad app, kids as young as 5 years old can learn programming concepts while playing with the robots. "Tech has to evolve to be accessible and fun," Vikas Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Play-i, says. He explains that young children do not have motor skills and language skills are not developed — and therefore they would not be able to use a keyboard or type let...