Posted By
Marshal Rosenthal
February 17, 2012 at 9:13am
Let’s not get political, but one of the catch phrases you seem to always hear from the left or the right is how important it is to “capture” the attention of future citizens at a young age. The point being that if you can indoctrinate a child to your point of view, he or she will continue to have that point of view as he or she grows up.
Politics aside, this does seem a valid point of view although it’s one that unfortunately leads to bad consequences. But like a pancake, if you flip this concept over you can arrive at a better place. In this case, that “better” place is getting children to not only find 3D attractive and an expected part of their life, but one that brings fascination and joy. One way to get kids excited about 3D is for a toy manufacturer to offer 3D with a toy in a way that compliments the natural play element.
For an example, there’s Imperial Toy and their 3D bubble blower. Anyone can understand the concept -- you blow bubbles that have a 3D appearance when you wear the special glasses. The physical aspect of blowing bubbles doesn’t require any learning curve or special work in order to create the 3D either. The kids see figures on the bubbles -- this varies by kit and consists of the regular type of bubble soap liquid sold commercially. There would be versions geared for both boy and girl audiences, so where can this go wrong? It even gets the kids outside, which is no little deal these days amidst the world of smartphones and tablets and indoor entertainment.
Of course there’s other 3D games out there already for kids -- for example, 3D magic which has you coloring stencils with “dots” that become three-D once you put on the glasses (the dots can be returned to the dispenser so its usable over and over again). A variety of colored pens and the multicolored dots are all stored in the case that holds the magnetic easel as well.
But as noted, the real thing that I see here is how 3D becomes an expected part of game-play in the same way as blocks or board games. I’m not belittling the “wow” factor of 3D, but I’d rather have it seem commonplace -- because it’s all over the place -- than treated with awe because it’s so rare to find.
With the New York Toy Fair almost here, once can only hope that more 3D-enabled toys will be found. Whether there’s a few or a lot, there’s no denying that 3D will continue to make an impact on the young as a positive technology that provides for a special kind of fun that otherwise won’t be possible. For sure 3D isn’t going to be delegated anymore to geeks who like staring at Mandelbrot 3D displays on their souped-up computers.