Kids love using their imaginations to envision lava on the bedroom floor and the park as a jungle. And now, a new device called the Lumo takes these visions and projects them onto the floor, turning just about anywhere into an interactive play space.
The Lumo, which is attracting attention on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, is a pico projector that shines animated scenes and games onto flat 4 feet by 6 feet surfaces.
Kids can then use their feet, for example, to play a virtual game of Greedy Greedy Hippos (i.e. Hungry Hungry Hippos) and air hockey or tip-toe across the room on tiny projected rocks in a bubbling volcanic landscape. The scenes respond to jumping, kicking, stomping and hand waving.
While the Lumo projector comes with a set of games, it's also possible for kids to design their own -- they can draw a moat, add sharks to the water and project a castle onto the floor. The custom designs are made via Lumo's online game template tool and can be tailored for kids ages 2 to 12.
Lumo will launch with more than 100 games, but the company said it will be opening up a software development kit (SDK) to developers who could potentially make their own games and apps available for projection.
The device itself runs on Android software, but the games can be controlled via iOS devices, as well. It's not a cheap toy. It will set you back $549. The Lumo ships this December.