Meet Miko, an interactive toy for girls between the age of 8 and 12.
miko
Miko is an interactive toy, that gives children the opportunity to project their emotions onto it. Miko’s heart is an old hard drive component that can produce vibrations and sounds at the same time.
Hard drive needle
The pillow below was the prototype we used to test out a heartbeat sound. The pillow actually amplifies the effect of the harddrive needle, and it really feels and sounds like a real heartbeat.
Pillow with heartbeat
As you can see and hear in the following movie, the sound effects are quite good, while also giving tactile feedback.
The end result: a living stuffed animal. We tested kids’ reactions to Miko, and they where positive. The kids started to play with it as if it was alive, protecting it and caring for it.
Promotional poster for the project