E waste to toys: ThinkerToys
Ever looked at a pile of E-waste containing perfectly usable electronic spare parts? Ever cringed at the thought of such aggregated piling waste from all the countries advancing in the field of technology? And all this waste being dumped in landfills in developing countries where kids who should be in school, work here for a meagre pay of a dollar a day.
Having seen this, ThinkerToys started as an idea to reuse this eWaste and convert them into fun toys for kids. The creations by Dhairya Dand,
a researcher at Keio-NUS CUTE Center, Singapore, was noticed by everyone at the ICTD (International conference on information and communication technologies and development), Atlanta 2012.
The design is simple: E waste + Arduino =
Keyano turns an ordinary keyboard into a piano! With the keys musically mapped to notes.
Basic addition, subtraction can be an invaluable skill for any kid. RandoMath is a small LED screen connected to your computer keyboard, and asks you random math puzzles.
Storynory has recorded fun stories in your local language, plug in the headphones or speakers for collaborative hearing.
Connect any old TV or CRT monitor and make it TV++, add a keyboard or a mouse for controls. This is a power packed mini computer designed for kids to be hooked on to the TV again, but this time for good reasons!
eWaste is directly connected to these toys without any modification. The resulting combination turns the eWaste (keybaord, mice, speakers, monitors) into something totally new and unexpected.
openTOYSis an ongoing project and more people might contact the creator for further development or for collaborating ideas. More of his works can be found here.
March 21st, 2012 at 15:57:33
Its really amazing to use the e-waste for most invaluable thing for learning kids and make them fun…
Can you have a few words about the method of doing any of the above projects..
March 21st, 2012 at 17:01:19
[…] Arduino Blog] Share this: Pin ItLike this:LikeBe the first to like this […]
March 21st, 2012 at 17:15:40
[…] Arduino Blog] Related Posts:WWII Aircraft as Canvas: The Boneyard ProjectBack in the Maker Shed: Arduino […]
March 22nd, 2012 at 05:34:03
Ill request the maker to update the tutorials soon! 🙂
March 22nd, 2012 at 06:06:47
tv++ tutorial plzz….:)
March 30th, 2012 at 16:41:28
Hi there
How long – in minutes – can the story inside Storynory be?
December 5th, 2015 at 08:37:02
Electronic waste also makes the huge problem in environment so making it as useful or recycling is the best way.
December 12th, 2015 at 07:41:29
Controlling e-wastes is the duty for every people in the world to prevent the world from ruin.