The Stokke PlayPad
The PlayPad is a multifunctional play platform that can grow with the changing abilities of children during early childhood. It bridges the gap between analog & digital play and provides a vision of how technology can enhance playful development if integrated in a meaningful way.
The goal of this project was to come up with a play platform that can evolve with the changing abilities, interests and personality of young children and support them in their development throughout childhood.
Placed on the floor the PlayPad creates a interactive play environment, where pressure sensors embedded in the surface work as input for different play experiences and visual (LED) as well as auditive feedback help to facilitate a variety of playful interactions that children can understand and enjoy.
creating "shared play moments"
The PlayPad is designed to fit the life of young families - it is flexible to move around, child-proof in its materiality, easy to set up and convenient to store away after play. The spatial setup enables both independent play for children as well as shared play where parents can join in and participate.
The main textile surface of the PlayPad creates a soft and safe play environment, where even the youngest can lay & play on. The textile sleeve is robust, washable and easy to detach with a zipper.
Sound, light & touch make it come to live
The icons embossed in the textile sleeve serve as visual & tactile triggers to interact with. They mark the position of integrated pressure sensors and can be backlit by LEDs below the textile.
The icons embossed in the textile sleeve serve as visual & tactile triggers to interact with. They mark the position of integrated pressure sensors and can be backlit by LEDs below the textile.
play base addon (speaker)
The play base contains a battery to power the sensors & LEDs spread across the pad, a speaker to provide audio feedback and instructions and a RFID reader that makes it possible to select and switch between different games and activities.
By placing different discs on top of the play base, children and parents can switch between a wide range of play modes available. Each play disc activates an individual preset for sensors, speaker and lights that enables the selected play activity on the PlayPad.
play experience evolves with the child
To always match the changing abilities of the children, individual play activities vary in difficulty and range from free and explorative play for the youngest to musical experiences or preschool learning games.
The wide range of play discs available keep the PlayPad attractive throughout childhood and adding new discs to the collection help families to upgrade over time according to the kid‘s age, abilities and interests. So that parents can offer their kids more play with less toys.
As the PlayPad is both an interactive toy as well as an interior piece in the home, it was essential to work with materials and colours to create a look & feel that fits the taste of young families.
Stokke as a well-trusted premium brand stands for long-lasting products with a design appeal that reflects their Scandinavian heritage and high standards for material and craftsmanship.
translate brand board into look & feel
During this project I worked very hands-on building a lot of physical prototypes and CMF explorations to come up with an authentic & playful product vision for kids and parents as well as Stokke as a brand.
The PlayPad is an interactive play platform that can evolve with the changing abilities of the child. It enhances playful development during all stages of early childhood as it offers a wide range of cognitive, physical as well as creative play activities in one single device.
This Master thesis project was created in 2022 as part of the Advanced Product Design Programme at Umeå Institute of Design. The project was carried out in collaboration with Stokke - all rights reserved.
image source credit: Olia Danilevich / Pexels
