Sketch-a-Move toy cars are nuts

Sometimes we get insanely jealous about all the cool stuff little kids get to play with growing up these days.  Like Louise Wictoria Klinker's new HotWheels prototype (okay, so not so many kids got to play with this, but you know what we mean), the Sketch-a-Move. Draw on the top of the car, and a touchscreen layer interprets the lines as a path to follow, and then drives it. Seriously. It's crazy. We totally wish we could be in Big, except, like, reverse.

[Via Near Near Future]

[Steve @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

These guys are about to make a mint! If Mattel can get these out by Christmas, this could be the hit toy of the season (for kids, and adults)!

[Pedro @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

that can not be real... there has to be someone under the table with a magnet or something.

[daleth @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

That is truly impressive. Even watching the whole video, every move is like magic. This makes me wish I had kids around just so I could play with this! Actually, after seeing this video, I'm gonna have to build a giant marker table like they have... that would be awesome!

[Resumes @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

...that although I am getting older, I refuse to grow up.

[tyler @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

I'm about 99% sure those are just ZipZaps from radio shack and someone spent way too much time trying to dupe us.

If you watch the video, the cars accelearate at completely different, and more importantly, appropriate speeds. There's no way they'd get that kind of precision out of drawing on top of a car...

-me

[not that stupid @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

come on people... this is complete B.S.

[not that stupid @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

come on people... this is complete B.S.

[Henning @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

...you don't wanna tell me you're believing this, right? Especially the part just before halftime of the video (where the cars drive something like an eight) shows that they are not controlled by themselves. Sliding and correcting it immediately, yeah right...

[M.B. Wolk @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

I love the concept, but three things make me doubt the demo: 1. Erasing an arc of the circle - touch screens are not optical devices, so the car would need to convert the signal for a large smudge and interpret it as the removal of an arc (unlikely). 2. City drive - it is highly unlikely that the observed positional accuracy could be obtained from the quick sketch on the car (unless the drawing on the table was done after the route was determined). 3. Size - touch screen, CPU, battery (e.g. a small PDA) + motor, radio control, etc. I don't think it would fit in the small package. In addition, it would likely cost about as much as a PDA.

Maybe the design team should clarify the fact that this is just a concept demo and the cars are not functional. They still can enjoy the recognition they deserve for a great idea.

[Ryan Block @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

You know, it's actually okay that it's not real! It's concept design, and pretty good concept design at that. And the point is they want to make it real, and apparently so does Mattel.

Best,
Ryan