This article was taken from the October 2012 Issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
LittleBits are building blocks with a technical twist. Their colour-coded components click together magnetically to complete circuits,
letting children from the age of six construct anything from a doorbell to an autonomous robot. (Put the parts in the wrong order and they're magnetically repelled.) "Why should you need an electrical engineering degree to design with light, sound, sensors and motors when these are things all around us?" says Ayah Bdeir, littleBits's founder and CEO. "We want to make it magical and imaginative, but at the same timepowerful. We're looking at electronics the way Lego looks at structural engineering."
The New York-based company won best new educational toy at the 2012 Toy Fair with its $89 (£56) starter set (below), and has secured $3.65 million (£2.2 million) in a round of series-A funding led by True Ventures and a partnership with accelerator PCH International to help with manufacturing and logistics.
"Electronics is a universal language - it's astounding, but interest in littleBits is an even 50/50 split between boys and girls," says the 29-year-old. "It's important that we encourage kids to get interested in science and technology, and teaching through problem-solving. In fact, it is not just important, it is urgent. Technology shouldn't be something we just consume."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
