Using e-waste to create educational toys, with ThinkerToys
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The Keyano module features a small speaker and connects to a PS/2 computer keyboard that's had each of its keys mapped to a different sound
RandoMath sports an LED screen that flashes mathematical puzzles which are answered using the keyboard
An old pair of headphones or earphones, or some working speakers are all you need to hear the pre-recorded audiobooks contained on the Storynory module, each of which is read out in the language local to the user
If there's a functional TV or CRT monitor kicking around, the onscreen action of simple educational games offered by the TV++ module can be controlled by a good old-fashioned wired mouse and keyboard
Mousepedia - a mouse-controlled audio encyclopedia that was shelved due to prohibitive setup costs
Dhairya Dand's prototype ThinkerToys are edutainment modules designed to put functional e-waste such as PS/2 keyboards and mice to good use
Electronic waste is a huge global problem, and its often devastating impact on our environment is not going to lessen any time soon – in fact, it's predicted to get worse. Faced with a panorama of mountainous e-waste when passing an immense landfill site in suburban Phnom Penh, Cambodia and seeing young children working there instead of going to school, a researcher at Keio-NUS CUTE Center and Mixed Reality Lab in Singapore came up with a novel idea to help tackle both issues. His plan involves creating simple and cheap-to-produce edutainment kit modules that could be shipped out to those unfortunate areas of the world where e-waste is transported for disposal, where they would be paired up with discarded but functional tech such as PS/2 keyboards and mice, speakers and old CRT monitors.
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