A group of Belgian university students from the Expertise centre for Digital Media (EDM) at Hasselt University created the Twoddler: a Fisher-Price busy-board connected to an Arduino that transmits toddlers' play into reassuring tweets for their parents (it's a real project, but the idea is a gag, no one really thinks that parents need to have "Jimmy hit the red button" tweeted to them) (this last to pre-empt the inevitable humorless comments about how this is emblematic of some kind of crisis in parenting).
Twoddler: Twittering Toddlers from Bart Swennen on Vimeo.
I am a toddler and want my mommy and daddy to know how I am doing while in nursery. They are so busy, but are thinking of me all the time. I want to let them know I am also thinking about them. I can't phone them, I can't mail them and I can't write letters, but I CAN twitter! They love to feel my presence and know that I am active. And that's not all: I can also twoddler with my friends; we have our own way of communicating that is way cooler than sending text messages. We are showing off what we are doing with our activity boards. When I play, my friends can see this! The best thing is: it doesn't have to make sense, no stupid boring grown-up logic — just playing!
(Thanks, JP!)
