Play and learning in the digital future

Video games are vastly improved; they include embedded computers and new, improved expressions in graphics and music. Soon games and toys will become communication tools that connect with one another through internal embedded technology. Eventual convergence of the visual cyber community and the physical world would let users move toward a new stage of play and a new way of learning. Developing the future digital toys and games so that the toys and their users work in a harmonious way is a task with far-reaching implications for everyone involved in the learning process, but especially for children. In this effort, the Toys of Tomorrow consortium at the MIT Media Laboratory is researching children´s play and learning. Here, we comment briefly on the increasingly profitable and influential game and entertainment industry, introduce the various MIT research projects, and discuss how we expect their results to affect our world and enhance the learning process