Code Roads: A modular children’s toy to introduce the powerful fundamentals of coding logic.
When I first learned the basics of coding I felt overwhelmed - a stray comma could mean the difference between success and disaster. All the while my teachers were explaining things using vague metaphors like “Picture a waterfall, the code flows down through it”. I wanted to create a way for coding newcomers to have an intuitive entry point, one that would translate the abstract nature of coding into something more tangible and concrete.
For my senior thesis in my MFA in Interaction Design, I created Code Roads a modular children's toy that helps kids learn the fundamentals of coding logic. With this building platform, kids can create their own Rube Goldberg like systems using components that are built to behave exactly like specific coding concepts. By making these concepts tangible, kids can gain a concrete roadmap of how code behaves before ever writing a line of code themselves.
The Project won Core 77 Design Award’s Open Design Award in 2014.
For a demonstration of Code Roads in action, please watch this short video :)
Meet The System
Inputs - Listen for sounds or movement and launches signals into the system when detected.
Signals - Marbles that travel through the system and show the flow of signals, they trigger events.
Logic Gates - Function just like logic gates should! The AND gate has hidden IR beams that break when a marble passes through. Only if it receives a signal from both sides will it let them pass through the logic gate.
Roads - Route and connect pieces of the system together.
Outputs - Respond to signals by either spinning or beeping
The End - Catcher to collect signals after they’ve traveled the system