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Maria Gurova

Pixar Vets Reinvent Speech Recognition So It Works for Kids | WIRED - 0 views

  • Though characters like Woody and Buzz Lightyear are wonderfully realistic and lovable, the relationship that kids have with them is largely one-sided. Kids can hear these characters talk—not only through movies, but games, toys, and other movie merchandise—but they can’t engage them.
  • It was this idea that inspired Jacob to team up with his former Pixar colleague, Martin Reddy, and launch a new company, ToyTalk. The San Francisco-based outfit develops mobile games that let kids have conversations with animated characters—dialogues that can last for hours
  • Known as PullString, it’s equal parts speech recognition engine and script writing tool, and it’s quite a departure from other speech rec tools developed by the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Apple. It’s tailored specifically to kids, whose sentence structure, pitch, and vocal tone have posed challenges for traditional tools.
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  • “The way kids talk and communicate is very different from how adults do, both in terms of how they use language and the fundamental frequencies that come out of their throats,
  • But as he points out, the way today’s children use technology will likely dictate the tech landscape for decades to come. If you can get kids hooked on speech technology young, they’ll stay with it forever.
  • Kids don’t want to ask a monkey character in a game what the weather will be on Tuesday. They want to sing him a song or ask him about life in the zoo.
  • While ToyTalk uses existing third party technology for its raw speech recognition, it works with those partners to develop better recognition models using ToyTalk’s own data. Now, ToyTalk has a trove of some 20 million children’s utterances, which Jacob believes is the largest database of kids conversation in the world
  • “Virtual assistants are awesome when they can answer every question. In our case, it’s the opposite,” Jacob says. “I have to know a lot of things that I’m not able to answer, and redirect the conversation to something that is within character.”
  • And Jacob says some toy companies are already testing PullString to power apps based on existing characters.
  • this technology could give kids a whole new way to play that falls somewhere in between the playground and the imaginary friend. “I think at some deep level if we succeed, we’ll inspire the imagination of kids to talk about things they might not otherwise talk about,”
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    the voice rec technology developed by ex-Pixar guy that is targeted to kids. It considers all nuances of kids speech behavior and analyses millions of kids conversations to make interaction with favorite characters within all possible media truly engaging
Maria Gurova

Mattel Unveils ThingMaker, A $300 3D Printer That Lets Kids Make Their Own Toys | TechC... - 0 views

  • Mattel unveiled its new, $300 3D Printer, the “ThingMaker,” which will allow children to print their own toys at home
  • While there are affordably priced 3D printers available today, the software that works with them can sometimes have a learning curve that can hinder adoption. With the new application, live now on iOS and Android, the goal was to make it easy enough for anyone to design their own toys – even younger children
  • The idea isn’t just to print an object and be done, however – instead, kids will print parts that can be assembled to form larger creations, like dolls, robots, dinosaurs, scorpions, skeletons, bracelets or necklaces, for example
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  • This process can take anywhere from 30 minutes for a small item, up to overnight (e.g. 6 6 to 8 hours) for a larger toy
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    Mattel presented a new affordable toy that allows kids to build their own toys at home using a kids-friendly app that is easy to use for a novice and a home 3D printer. The spread of this technology might put pressure on the traditional toy market and create opportunity for IPs owners to allow kids interact with their favorite franchise in the whole new way
Maria Gurova

Research Says Screen Time Can Be Good For Your Kids - Forbes - 0 views

  • Still, most parenting wisdom continues to portray television as an evil mind-rotting demon. The fear of ‘screen time’ is so deeply ingrained in our collective imagination that an irrational opposition between outdoor play and media consumption is taken for granted. Many parents believe the choice is either/or: indoors or out.
  • most storytelling is interactive. We consume most of our media through internet connected devices. And technology is so adept at providing ‘adaptive feedback’ that it proves to be an exceptionally effective teaching tool. In fact, a recent SRI study shows that game based learning can boost cognitive learning for students sitting on the median by 12%.
  • Joint media engagement refers to spontaneous and designed experiences of people using media together, and can happen anywhere and at any time when there are multiple people interacting together with digital and traditional media.
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  • describes the rules and restrictions we put on screen time. Some of these restrictions limit time, other restrictions filter content.
  • Restrictive Mediation
  • Unlimited access to media becomes one of the markers of adulthood.
  • Instructive Mediation describes what happens when we talk to our kids while watching a movie or playing a video game with them. Make it a teaching opportunity
  • Instructive mediation is key for raising kids that are critical thinkers and intelligent adults in a media saturated world–kids who know how to THINK about the media they consume.
  • Social Coviewing is when you watch something with your kids but don’t necessarily talk about it. This is what happens in a movie theater.
  • This is what happens when I watch Phineas and Ferb with my kids.
  • Parallel play is kind of like multitasking. I can be typing on my Chromebook next to my son while he’s playing minecraft. We engage in peripheral conversations, some tangential, and some directly related to the game he is playing.
  • Asymmetrical joint media engagement
  • While interacting with me online, I hope they learn good web etiquette. I’m teaching them lessons about propriety and social media. They see the kinds of things I write in emails and chats.
Maria Gurova

The Future of Kids TV: A MIPTV Report | Animation World Network - 4 views

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    3.  New Characters for kids Talking Friends" - pet apps.  Repeats your voice "squeaky version"  1.5 billion views.  Talking Tom Cats" - Talking Tom stars in Disney's newest show, 3 min. short each week. Clumsy Ninja" - progressive game where Ninja gets less clumsy as he goes along.  Kids spend hours and hours …
Irina Marchenko

How to Get Your Children Away from TV - 1 views

Provide alternatives. Kids are learning about their world everyday. Make sure that most of their learning comes from self-experience and not from being told about things via the medium of TV....

entertainment play

Olga Bykova

Piggybackr Launches Its 'Kickstarter For Kids' To Let Youth Get In On The Crowdfunding ... - 1 views

  • Piggybackr is a crowdfunding platform that’s specifically targeted to the needs of kids, with educational tools, game mechanics, and age-appropriate directions, and parental controls
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    Piggybackr is a crowdfunding platform that's specifically targeted to the needs of kids, with educational tools, game mechanics, and age-appropriate directions, and parental controls.
Irina Marchenko

20 indoor activities for kids-besides TV - 0 views

http://simplemom.net/20-indoor-activities-for-kids-besides-tv/ I don't have a problem with TV or movies-we watch them both. But we all know they're FAR too often the default choice of leisure tim...

play entertainment

started by Irina Marchenko on 29 Jul 13 no follow-up yet
Maria Gurova

Star Wars Characters Will Now Teach Your Kids To Code | WIRED - 1 views

  • Today, as part of its annual Hour of Code event, Code.org is launching a free online tutorial that prompts kids to build their own games, based on characters in the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
  • where they’ll learn to write code to design their own games featuring characters like R2-D2 ad C-3PO.
  • Of the 5 million students currently registered on Code.org, around 2 million are girls and around 2 million are black or Hispanic.
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  • That’s one reason why the Hour of Code tutorial, which is available to anyone online, focuses on the film’s prominent female characters, instead of, say Han Solo or Luke Skywalker.
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    New collaboration between Code.org that spread the popularity of coding among kids and Disney. This time featuring SW franchise 
isoldatenkova

Silicon Valley parents are raising their kids tech-free - Business Insider - 0 views

  • a new kind of Silicon Valley parent. Instead of tricking out their homes with all the latest technology, many of today's parents working or living in the tech world are limiting — and sometimes outright banning — how much screen time their kids get.
  • short-term consequences among teens and adolescents who are heavy users of tech. These include heightened risks for depression, anxiety, and, in extreme cases, suicide.
  • parents told Business Insider that it's often hard to strike a balance in limiting tech use, since kids quickly begin to feel left out of their peer group. The longer parents try to impose their restrictions, the more they fear they're essentially raising a well-adjusted outcast.
isoldatenkova

Capitalism Camp for Kids - The New York Times - 0 views

  • programs that are designed to teach students about how to be businesspeople and innovators (biznovators!).
  • children as young as 8 will learn how to monetize their hobbies, interview local corporate executives, and shoot YouTube commercials for their prospective businesses.
  • students are assessed, by the end of their programs, on “noncognitive skills” and on something called the Entrepreneurial Mind-set Index.
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  • a kid, at 10, can pick up these business principles and literally start their own little micro business.”
  • the whole spectrum of a woman in business: the challenges she had to overcome, personal branding, communication, etiquette, and then also teaching these girls how to have agency,
Maria Gurova

The future of local government - 0 views

  • We increasingly live in a world where we don’t have to leave our homes, and when we do, we travel in isolation
  • It is in public space that we encounter a wide variety of people different from ourselves. Public spaces are important because they provide room to negotiate how we will live together in a highly populated environment. Encountering people of different races, classes, ages and abilities on a daily basis has the potential to cultivate a citizenry that is more tolerant of diversit
  • Streets are declining as a form of public space because street life often is perceived – and sometime is – unsafe: thus we frequently retreat indoors, making the streets even less safe
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  • Harford argues that much can be done to make public space safe for children. “I would like to see pedestrian-friendly crossings more frequently on streets. I would like to see the streets be more kid-oriented with wider sidewalks, as well as a more coherent attitude amongst people on the street to be watching out for kids.”
  • in “real life, only from the ordinary adults of the city sidewalks do children learn – if they learn it at all – the first fundamental of successful city life: People must take a modicum of public responsibility for each other even if they have no ties to each other.
  • Ronda Howard, a Vancouver senior city planner, notes that when there are greater incentives for people to walk in their neighbourhoods, there are more eyes on the street: thus the streets become safer.
  • Despite the challenges facing parents raising children in the city, different social networks can augment child involvement in public space. Harford says that strong social ties help increase her son’s autonomy in Vancouver
  • When we actively engage with others who are different from us, we have the opportunity to become more sophisticated and tolerant citizens. When we get to know the diverse members of our communities, we create social networks that make our cities safer and more enjoyable. Public spaces are integral to making this happen. These spaces are an antidote to the inward gaze of individualism. We need to reclaim public space and work to expand its boundaries. It’s time for us to leave the house of the self in the background, and go outside
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    how modern public spaces are interconnected with the health and social skills of the future generation. When kids spent less time indoors not only their health become vulnerable, but also their position as future citizens 
Maria Gurova

FiLIP Smartwatch Helps Parents Track Their Child's Location [VIDEO] - 0 views

  • Parents can program up to five numbers into the gadget, which kids can call with the touch of a button.
  • The FiLIP's simple interface only includes two buttons, one of which is bright red. In case of emergency, the child can hold down the red button, prompting the watch to call the first person in its contact list.
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    First smart watch designed for kids
Maria Gurova

Nickelodeon hopes SpongeBob SquarePants will get kids coding | Technology | The Guardian - 0 views

  • Nickelodeon UK’s launch of a website called Code-It that aims to teach programming skills to 6-12 year-olds.
  • While they will earn badges for their progress through the site’s set lessons, children will also be able to write their own programs animating the characters, and share them with their peers.
  • In May 2014, producer Aardman Animations launched Shaun’s Game Academy - a website challenging children to create and share their own games
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  • the BBC followed with The Doctor and the Dalek, a web game based on Doctor Who that featured a series of programming challenges
Maria Gurova

YouTube Kids App Blasted as 'Deceptive' by Consumer Groups | Variety - 0 views

  • Google’s YouTube Kids app, which offers a walled garden of content aimed at the 5-and-under set, is the target of a coalition of consumer groups urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the service as a potential violation of rules about advertising to children
  • “Many of the video segments endorsing toys, candy and other products that appear to be ‘user-generated’ have undisclosed relationships with product manufacturers in v
  • iolation of the FTC’s guidelines concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising,
Oleg Batluk

Save Yourself From the Digital Zombie Apocalypse and Get Outdoors | TakePart - 0 views

  • my attention monopolized at that moment by an electronic screen.
  • offers endlessly updating possibilities.
  • for many children growing up today, digital reality is the only reality.
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  • It is addictive
  • children grow up not caring about the natural world.
  • The list of physical and social maladies associated with sedentary behavior—an almost inevitable corollary of time spent on electronic devices
  • American Academy of Pediatrics used to recommend that parents limit screen time to less than two hours a day for children over the age of two
  • digital reality as the new normal
  • Make shutting down the devices a family thing.
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    Self-limitation from digtal monopoly to save kids from mental and physical deasess should become a family thing
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    Self-limitation from digtal monopoly to save kids from mental and physical deasess should become a family thing
Maria Gurova

HeroMe: Create the Hero You Want to Be! by HeroMe - Kickstarter - 1 views

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    Kickstarter project that allow kids create their own physical superhero action figures and stories for them 
Irina Marchenko

Self adjustable kids glasses - 2 views

http://www.psfk.com/2013/07/self-adjustable-kids-glasses.html

Technology science health kids

started by Irina Marchenko on 22 Jul 13 no follow-up yet
Maria Gurova

How I Convinced My 8 Year Old To Choose Books Instead Of Minecraft - Forbes - 0 views

  • There’s dissonance between the cultural and psychological associations I have about technology and the associations I have about reading. The popular mythology tells me that words are good while tech is scary.
  • Bottom line: the eReader makes my son read more. And my son is not unique. According to PlayScience and Digital Book World study, the Kids eBook market “has basically tripled from 2011 to 2012, that is 500% growth.”  What’s more, “A staggering number of kids  (85%) e-read at least once a week.”
  • “Which do you like better,” I sent him a message with gChat, “eBooks or paper books?” “ebook” “Why?” “Its a elictrak devise” I forgive the bad spelling. But I should probably correct him. Or, even better, respond with sentences that use the words and model correct spellings. “What have you been reading?” “All the Horrid Henrys” “Cool. Are they good books?” “Ya.”
Maria Gurova

Hand Gestures Could Make Kids Smarter | TIME.com - 0 views

  • Using hand gestures may be important for more than just making a point; they could help children to learn.
  • Once something is learned, however, it’s a challenge to unlearn and inhibit the reflexive response. That’s why it helps to develop good habits early
  • It’s easier to learn something correctly the first time than it is to unlearn ineffective techniques and relearn better ones.
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  • During the task, some of the children instinctively used gestures — making rabbit ears when they knew shape mattered, or moving their palms from facing up to turning sideways when they were sorting by the teddy bear’s orientation — to guide themselves.
  • Earlier work showed that older children were better able to learn math if taught to use gestures while doing so. And they often found the right answer physically — for example, by making movements to signify the numbers that needed to be kept together to add correctly — before finding it verbally
  • The toddlers’ gestures could be interpreted as a glimpse of their brains at work, as they figure out how to exert the cognitive control necessary to complete their tasks.
  • What’s more, she found that this effect had a stronger effect on successful performance than age — a powerful finding given that children’s skills improve rapidly with age during this stage of development.
  • That has implications for improving the way we communicate and think, and could help to address developmental disorders associated with cognitive control issues, such as autism
Maria Gurova

Жизнь с детьми: «Я так от всего этого устал»: за что дети не любят школу - Лю... - 0 views

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    today's school kids who are not very bright at school discuss the changes they think should be made within existing educational system and how school marks to mean a thing 
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