Honeycomb coding toy turns anything into a musical instrument

ElecFreaks' DIY STEM toy can also be used as a camera shutter, security camera or alarm, and music recorder.

STEM toys that teach coding and programming are nothing new. Most models literally build on the imagination, providing users with blocks and other components that can be assembled freely and made alive through a variety of buttons and codes. Such toys are targeted primarily to young children. The Cubetto, for instance, teaches kids the basics of engineering way before they can learn to read.

Demand for such products does not seem to be wavering, securing this sector as a mainstay in the toy industry's future. Big-time companies like Google have also tried their hand on STEM coding toys, introducing Project Bloks early last year, and other businesses are following suit.

One such company is ElecFreaks, which seeks to make coding not only easy to understand for children, but more fun and creative. Its newest model, the Honeycomb, is essentially a set of Lego-compatible building blocks comprised of magnetic and hexagon pieces, which give creations a honeycomb-like structure.

Reminiscent of Google's Project Bloks, Honeycomb allows users to assemble pieces freely based on their desired blueprint and action to be executed. What's different, however, is that this DIY STEM toy can turn any object, or even a person or body part, into a musical instrument that can play up to 16 sounds.

One of Honeycomb's video also shows it's possible to create music out of thin air from a height of up to 5cm, thanks to the unit's multiple sensors. The DIY toy consists of three types of blocks: green, blue and orange, which signifies input, logic and output, respectively. Input indicates the action that will trigger the desired effect such as vibrations, touch or sound. Logic, meanwhile, consists of two categories: gate circuit for multiple conditions and functional modules, which communicates the command to be carried out to specific modules. Output executes the command.

ElecFreaks' Honeycomb can also be connected to a phone camera and programmed to shoot images and videos via touch, voice, sound and motion sensors. It can also be used as a security camera or alarm, and a sound recorder.