Don't worry—it's not in the menacing "Take us to your leader" sense. These robots are cute and friendly, looking vaguely like they just rolled out of a Pixar movie. Their names are Bo and Yana. And they're designed to teach programming concepts to kids of all ages, even kids who can't read yet.
Meet Bo and Yana. Admit it, you want to play with them already. Your kids will too.
Play-i developed Bo and Yana as robot buddies for kids, who control their movements with a touchscreen app on a smartphone or tablet. Each robot has a friendly light-up eye, Bluetooth 4.0, an accelerometer, and a proximity sensor. It's really easy to have fun with this—just pair either robot to your tablet with Bluetooth, and start tapping different buttons in the controller app to see what happens.
Wheeled Bo can roll around, pick up toys, dance, and interact with accessories like a special xylophone. Yana doesn't have wheels, but she can light up and make sound effects as kids move and shake her, letting you tell stories with Yana playing different characters, like a fire engine or a helicopter. The robots can even interact with each other—they're playing hide-and-seek in the photo at the top of this article.
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