App turns screen time into physical playtime

Yibu's mobile app comes with five sensor-embedded wooden toys that the user can play with to interact the online character and progress through the game.

Reportedly, 73 percent of children ages 3 to 7 use smartphones and tablets regularly. The time spent on these electronic devices takes away hours that could have been better spent outside to play and explore the real world. In response to this, tech company Frog has designed an app that fuses traditional and physical play with mobile gaming.

Yibu is a gaming platform that comes with five wooden blocks that are embedded with sensing technology. Each of these toys are fitted with a different sensor for sound, direction, temperature, light and rotation. The app is currently available only for iOS systems.

Yibu is different from other smart toys in such a way that users can only play the game and interact with the polar bear character by solving problems and applying these solutions via the wooden blocks. Tapping the screen of the electronic gadget will not do anything.

For example, to wake the bear up, the player needs to shout into the microphone block. If the game is taken outside on a hot day, the bear will start to sweat. The child can then blow on the temperature sensor or put the light sensor on a shady place to relieve the bear of discomfort.

Aside from these, Yibu is constantly connected to a server that updates information about the real world such as air quality, time and weather. These details will affect the environment that the polar bear and how the child should solve its problems.

Currently, the game is still in production and there has been no news regarding a release date.

Other similar games that promote physical interaction include the Grasshopper toy and the Teppino mat.