Hackers take on kids’ rooms, get them to eat their veggies

Having trouble keeping your kids entertained or getting them to eat their veggies? Maybe hackers can help you. The winners of the latest Hellocomputer/DraftFCB hackathon certainly look like they’re onto something in that regard.

The winning entry in the 48-hour hackathon was a hacked kids’ room which was converted into a gaming station. Sensors allowed kids to jump on the bed while being mirrored by their imaginary friend, pilot a rocket-propelled dinosaur through space as well as play a multiplayer pillow fight and — via a score counter — see who won.

The kids meanwhile went for a Scalextric set activated when they ate their veggies. The more they ate, the faster their cars went.

Other entries included an Oreo Launcher, the Pancake Assist which automated pancake making, an interactive bedtime story and a shoebox converted into a cinema projector.

The previous hackathon saw the winning team build a system that tweeted every time a hamster activated one of the sensors its cage was rigged with so it looks lie the country isn’t short on left-field innovation.

Hellocomputer’s executive creative director, Mark Tomlinson said: “This was another awe-inspiring event resulting in incredible innovation. The theme — Hack4Kids — was very cool and all teams rose to the challenge, unleashing the power of their inner child to create some funky applications that had grown-ups and kids alike enthralled”.