A few weeks ago we attended Gadget Show Live to take a look at the latest tech products to hit the market – and even some who haven’t made it that far yet, and are still in prototype mode.
Here are our favourite family gadgets from the show (in no particular order!)
Folding Playhouse
This is a rather ingenious idea aimed primarily at families with small gardens, who need to be able to make the most of the small lawn space they have.
The playhouse folds away when not in use, and can even be converted into an art desk as well. It is still in prototype stage at the moment, but it looks good so far – the girls were intrigued!
Milo
Milo is a clever little lion with a video screen and a few control buttons. The basic premise is that a family member who is separated from the child – for example a parent working away, or divorced parents, or relatives living in another country – can communicate with the child(ren) irrespective of time zones.
This is something we’ve had recent experience with, as my parents are visiting New Zealand and communication has been challenging. Although the girls are used to FaceTime the time difference makes it difficult as the best times to talk are when we are trying to get them ready for school or for bed. Milo lets the adult send video messages to the child who can then respond with their own messages – like a visual answerphone service.
BabyHub SleepSpace
The BabyHub SleepSpace is a new (relatively lightweight) travel cot system that forms the base of a pyramid, so a mosquito net can be easily added, and it also converts into a wigwam for daytime play.
They demonstrated how it goes up, collapses, and changes into a play tent, and it is all really quick & easy to do, so if you were on holiday you could transform it easily from nighttime sleep to daytime play each morning without too much effort.
Engino Toy Systems
Engino is a building system With pieces that can be clipped together, and the girls (and James) loved the models that they had on display.
Some models use robotics to move, and even the basic sets let you build several different models from each box. They looked fun, and with a pre-school version coming out later this year they are suitable for a huge age range.
Osmo
Osmo is an interactive iPad game system; a mirror clips onto the front facing camera of the iPad, and then the child can interact with the screen in the physical dimension. Sit an iPad with Osmo on a table, and you can trace drawings, and interact with different games using the different letter tiles and shapes.
Georgie and Lydia were really taken with this, and we had to drag them away from the stand where they were playing tangrams, spelling words, and generally having loads of fun. It is the kind of thing that makes education enjoyable for children, and Georgie is going to be unwrapping one of their starter packs on her birthday in a few weeks.
Crumbs Away
A neat little gadget with bristled rollers mounted on the bottom, the Crumbs Away comes in two different shapes; the caterpillar and the ladybird. You run it over your carpet and it picks up dropped crumbs, or bits & pieces.
One of the examples was to pick up those last bits of Lego that always seem to be scattered across the rug after a play session! The girls were able to use this themselves, and apparently some kids even keep theirs in their Lego storage box.
Pi-top
This clever gadget is a laptop casing designed to be fitted with a Raspberry Pi. You can buy it with or without a Pi, and when a new Pi comes out you can swap them out to upgrade your laptop without needing to replace the whole thing.
They also do a desktop version as well – and both would be ideal for children leading to code, or who are interested in messing with computer components.
Intelligence Devil Tower
One of the only non powered “gadgets” at the show, this (terribly named!) toy is a series of bevelled diamonds that stack and interlock in different ways. It comes with a stand which can be used in your designs.
It didn’t really fit in with everything else at the show, but the girls’ imaginations were immediately fired up by the toy, and so we took advantage of a show deal to buy them one each. Since the show they have played with it loads, creating all sorts of weird and wonderful structures.
So there you have it…
…our favourite family gadgets from this years’ Gadget Show Live. We had a great family day out, and saw loads of fantastic tech – and some very strange stuff too!
