Reach Robotics, the creators of the world’s first AR gaming robot, have announced the upcoming launch of a dedicated education app.
Operating alongside the existing MekaMon gaming app, Reach EDU will go live in Q1 2019.
Functioning with the MekaMon robot, Reach EDU will utlise MekaMon’s dynamic locomotion, personality and, in the future, AR capabilities to engage and inspire students.
The app is structured around three core educational features, providing learners with three points of entry, according to ability/knowledge:
- Explore & Draw - A visual introduction to coding concepts. Draw a path and watch your MekaMon follow your commands. Post-launch, updates will incorporate Free Drive settings, including head colour adjustment, gait parameters, and animations.
- Animate - MekaMotion, our animation authoring studio, provides artistic engagement, and beginner coding opportunities, through highly tactile physical movement rooted in fun and creativity.
- Code - Similar to Scratch, our new visual programming suite, MekaCode, gives users the ability to create more complex movements using block coding. It offers unbounded potential for experimentation, from tackling challenging terrain and complex obstacle courses, to puzzle solving and algorithm development. You can also use Swift Playground with MekaMon for the next step in coding education.
Missions, our progressive guided learning platform, will draw from each educational feature, giving users a robust learning pathway. Launching with 10 missions, Reach EDU will regularly be updated with new content of varying complexity.
Free Drive mode, where you can adjust the height, gait and speed of MekaMon and experiment with over 70 pre-set animations, will serve as a tutorial to help users get to grips with the basic controls.
For students further along in their studies, including those at degree and postgraduate level, third-party educational platforms will be available with MekaMon. These include the upcoming Reach Raspberry Pi processing module, for advanced development.
Reach’s commitment to backwards compatibility means that the app, including new features and ongoing updates, will be available for all models of the MekaMon robot.
A companion website, edu.reachrobotics.com, will provide background, guidance, and resources for parents, students and educators.
Reach EDU is the realisation of the primary inspiration behind MekaMon. Reach Robotics CEO, Silas Adekunle, created the first prototype whilst teaching in schools. He quickly learned that robotics and gaming captured students’ attention, making learning infinitely more engaging.
He said:
“There's a huge amount of creative potential with MekaMon, due to the scope of its expressive movement and personality. Reach EDU is about delivering the tools for students to take advantage of this, by creating a versatile, accessible, and fun platform for effective STEAM education and ongoing innovation. “The World Economic Forum recently listed problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity as the top three skills that children need for success*. We firmly believe that we can deliver on all of these fronts.
“Taking into account that an estimated 85% of jobs that will exist in 2030 are as yet undefined**–we think it is essential that the next generation are fully literate in the STEAM skills that will equip them for a post-4th industrial revolution economy.”