Google has just purchased their next company, which is a startup called Launchpad Toys. For those unfamiliar with the company or what they do, they basically cater to children with a selection of apps and toys that can allow them to create their own content based on the augmented reality technology. In the midst of this announcement Launchpad Toys has made all of their content creation tools and toys free for kids everywhere as of today, but it seems the biggest news surrounding this company buyout is yet to come as Launchpad Toys has hinted that they have something big to share come tomorrow.
Google has already been dabbling with augmented reality with the likes of Google Glass and the popular smartphone game Ingress developed by their own in-house games company Niantic Labs, so it will be interesting to see what Google plans to help Launchpad Toys do with what they have already achieved. Perhaps we’ll see some sort of new AR game designed for kids, or maybe Launchpad Toys is simply going to be getting funding and collaborative support from Google to further their own ideas and goals. It could really be anything at this point, but whatever it is you can be sure it’ll be fun and continue to focus on the children’s market.(someone please think of the children!)
Currently Launchpad Toys has all kinds of fun apps that kids can use to do all sorts of things, like this augmented camera app called Telestory, which enables kids to use the camera on a smartphone(or tablet we presume)to perform and record their own TV shows. It seems like all fun and games but there’s another element to it. This could be spurring the next generation of TV show hosts, YouTube content creators, and more all through the use of an app and a mobile device. Unfortunately at the moment it seems all of what Launchpad Toys offers is only compatible with iOS, so with that being said perhaps tomorrow’s announcement has to do with their technology and toys apps coming to the Android platform. I suppose we’ll have to wait till tomorrow to find out exactly, but if you’re a parent with Android devices, this is one thing to keep an eye on.