Jay Silver, the creator of the renowned invention kit product Makey Makey, is eyeing an augmented reality-based business opportunity that will teach the basics of programming to children.
Silver, as an entrepreneur, draws inspiration from the ambition of his late father Joel Silver. Joel was an enthusiastic entrepreneur himself back in the 1970s, and the founder of the still running Sunseed Food. Jay believes that his father was a visionary.
Jay Silver has also ventured into the domains of unusual concepts in his career so far, which includes the block-type programming language known as Scratch. He is also the founder of Joylabz, the parent company that produces the Makey Makey brand of products. Makey Makey kits are useful for introducing children to the basics of programming and enabling easy practice routines for hands-on projects. Silver has generated sales revenues in the region of $25 million over a period of seven years, by selling more than a million of these kits.
Silver has yet another education-related project currently under development. He has contributed his efforts to GameBender for 4 years. It is a project through which kids will get acquainted with the concepts of coding.
Silver was notably excited whilst describing GameBender, but expressed that he wanted to wait till a later date to reveal all details. The company is expected to release the finished product and reveal price details on May 29. According to Silver’s statement, GameBender will help children understand coding via the modification of current games and applications.
GameBender, similar to Makey Makey, is targeted towards children who are 8 and older.
The National Science Foundation has given a grant of $1 million to the GameBender project to showcase its offers across schools and museums. GameBender consists of a projection system that enables codeable communication between virtual and commonly seen physical objects. It does so without relying on a computer screen.
The applications that will be offered by GameBender are stock AR-based activities that enable users to form simple inventions involving common items that people see everyday. Players can use these objects to create coded interactions, modify the programming and influence the gameplay.
Silver has been a strong advocate for the concept of turning physical objects into engaging offerings. The Makey Makey range of products are quite similar in concept, and help children gain an understanding circuits. One of the projects include making bananas appear as simulated piano keys via achieving a computer connection.
Rajesh Mehta, the National Science Foundation’s director for research related to small business technology and innovation programs, revealed that GameBender was chosen among the 300 different companies that it funds on a yearly basis.
According to Mehta, game-learning products have the potential for engaging children significantly. He and his associates harbour a hope of seeing GameBender become a massive difference maker in the area of technology-based learning.
The GameBender project has a workforce of 15 personnel, including contractors, employees and advisory professionals.
