We decided to do Virtual Reality as a project after they released the Nintendo Labo VR kit, and broadened the project out to include Augmented Reality so that comparisons could be made between the different ways of engaging with digital information.
We bought the Labo VR starter kit, which consisted of two builds: the VR Goggles and the Blaster, which once built can be used with both inbuilt mini-games and some main titles (e.g., Mario Odyssey and Splatoon). We've previously used the Nintendo Labo Variety Kit builds for:
In comparison, the goggles are quick and easy to build, but the blaster is quite complicated. As with all these builds - they're suitable for a 6 year old with good concentration, but can be hard work with anyone younger.
The Nintendo Labo VR Kit
Like most children, ours are big fans of Harry Potter, so the new Wizards Unite app was a good way to get them out of the house and introduce them to AR. They loved the app, and luckily we live in an area with plenty of 'inns' for replenishing energy, so the children are more than happy to go out for an hour or two of collecting various Harry Potter digital tat.
Solomon running down his father's battery
As well as the Harry Potter app, we also explored AR as a tool for enhancing the real world with more useful information by doing the Peterborough Cathedral tour using the Gamar App. Unsurprisingly, for children who love both museum trails and screens, they loved the digital trail!
Peterborough Cathedral App
Finally, we finished our VR/AR week by watching the 1980s classic Tron:
The graphics may have improved, but the warnings are as relevant as ever!
This week's project was prompted by the fact that we want to get the new Nintendo Labo VR kit, but first we had to finish the variety kit we already had and the last piece to be made was the piano.
Nintendo Labo Piano
The Labo piano is the biggest of the builds in the variety kit, with an estimated build time of 2.5-3.5 hours, so we spread it over a couple of days. The suggested age range is 6+, and while Solomon (6) kept his focus during the build, Monica (4) had a tendency (understandably) to get a bit bored after an hour. As with the previous Labo builds, they're fiddly to make, but the kids love playing with them:
Similarly, there was a guitar build in the LEGO Boost set that we hadn't made yet, so we decided to build that this week too.
LEGO Boost Guitar
In this case, the guitar links to a tablet which plays different chords depending on where you place the capo on the fret board and how you 'strum' the lever. The recommended age range for the LEGO Boost is 7-12, but whereas the Labo requires a lot of supervision, they can work through the Boost on their own.
Of course we also looked at more traditional music and musical instruments. They watched brief history of (Western) music, that provided some nice context to modern music.
They also played some musical instruments themselves, playing recorders at home, and then the ukulele at the Peterborough Centre for Young Musicians. They really enjoyed the trial session, and we plan for the ukulele lessons to become a more regular thing.
It was Solomon's birthday this week and (unsurprisingly!) he wanted to pick something to do with computer games. We have previously done quite a few computer and computer game projects:
So this week we tried to get them to think more about the design of computer games, potential input devices and designing their own pixelated characters.
We started the week by watching some more videos on the history of computer games, and the film Pixels, where the world is invaded by 1980s video games (currently available on Netflix). The TED-Ed video was particularly good, but unfortunately it's only part 1, and five years later we're still waiting for part 2 to appear!
We went to Namco Funscape on the South Bank in London for our trip out. It's the closest you can get to an old fashioned arcade these days, albeit with a greater emphasis on the variety of input devices (e.g., guns, dance mats, and snowboards) and winning tickets. Solomon has already declared that he wants to go again for his next birthday as he loves it, and wants to win lots more of the Pac-Man merchandise!
Namco Funscape
At home we explored the different sorts of input devices that you could create with a Makey-Makey, and built the Nintendo Labo fishing rod. The Makey-Makey is a circuit board that you can plug into your PC and create new input devices by making simple circuits. Nintendo Labo allows you to build new input devices for the Nintendo Switch by combining the controllers with cardboard.
Playing Tetris with the Makey-Makey
Playing with the Nintendo Labo fishing rod
Finally the kids designed their own computer characters: Croc-a-roo and Sissy the Robot.
Croc-a-roo and Sissy the Robot
Solomon's Croc-a-roo is designed with traditional gameplay in mind "it snaps and jumps at baddies in a moving platform game". Monica's character is more genre-busting: "Sissy the Robot walks about waving her arms at people and then goes to live with Peach*".
*from the Mario franchise - intellectual property rights mean nothing to children!
This week Solomon was given free rein on choosing a project, and (unsurprisingly) he decided to focus on one of his favourite pastimes: playing computer games. More specifically, the character of Mario (or Mario Mario depending on which side you favour in the naming debate). Obviously Mario is a bit less academic than the previous week's Project 43: Museums, but it was a great opportunity to explore both the evolution of the character and how it interacts with the wider cultural environment.
We started by watching a short video on the history of Mario, from his first appearance as Jumpman in Donkey Kong through to modern incarnations in 3D worlds. As the Donkey Kong game was originally supposed to be a Popeye game (with Bluto as Donkey Kong, and Popeye as Mario) it was also an opportunity to introduce the kids to Popeye cartoons.
As well as playing Mario games we watched two films this week that gave a bit more cultural context to the games. The Wizard is a 1980s film that is less about product placement and more an advert for Nintendo games consoles, and it also introduced the game Super Mario Bros. 3 to the world.
We also watched The King of Kong: a fistful of quarters the classic video game documentary, that has received renewed attention this year with Billy Mitchell being stripped of his world record scores. As any child brought up on the exploratory world of Mario Odyssey quickly realises: old arcade games are hard!
Solomon also did a couple of craft activities. He drew Mario, both in pixels and freehand, and also made the Nintendo Labo motorbike to play Mario Kart with on the Switch.
Mario Mario
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We bought the Nintendo Labo Variety Kit when it first came out, and whilst they are a great way of demonstrating the potential of sensors and computers, the projects can be quite fiddly and take a while so you have to block out quite a bit of time to do them.
