Learning how to code is more of what the kids of today are learning. If you want to do anything tech related you better understand how to code. And with the direction that our modern world that is tech dependent, being a coder might just be the new in thing. But as we all know, coding is difficult and confusing to the untrained eye. Now imagine if it was colorful and was made of shapes and blocks. Would that be easy to understand? Yes, of course.
Thankfully, Google has been attempting to do exactly that by creating a new initiative called the Project Bloks. The Project is going to be a system where children can use toy blocks to connect together and be able to control other toys and also in the process be able to learn the fundamentals of coding.
As per the program, a bunch of blocks which have arrows on them could be used to control a robot if the blocks are put as they should be. Google intends to teach kids the whole point of coding so that they can gain basic knowledge which they will be able to transfer to the real world as they grow up.
However, Google does intend on being a toy maker. Google plans to create the Project Bloks as a platform which will have all the technology needed and coding behind the toys, and then they will invite third parties and partners who would build the toys for them. Google believes that if they use this method, which is similar to the Android setup, toy makers would have relative ease building the products needed and they will be able to bring out a host of toy products on the market.
Google says the project is still being developed. Therefore Bloks is not yet ready for the market. The project is a partnership of Research at Google, Google Creative Lab, Ideo (a design firm), and some researchers from the Stanford University and Chiang Mai University.
The development is said to have started back in 2013, and they have announced it now so that Google can see developer interest. They also want to see if there would be any interested partners who would want to build the toys. The expected date for the release of the toys is unknown at the time.
Google gave examples of the type of toys that could be used with the Project Bloks technology. Users can control robots and its movements, speakers, can be programmed to play music and labs can be activated so as to let users control other objects in the room.
