An idea adds a new meaning to a simple toy

We took a pause at the moment when we suggested that the client implements Bluetooth technology, as this gave him an idea that turned the entire concept of the toy around and took it to a qualitatively new level.

The idea was that with the help of Bluetooth, you can collect data about how children use the toy and draw conclusions regarding their performance. Yoli's concept was that of interactivity, fine motor skills development, and a learning system that would be easy and fun for children. With the introduction of the data collection function, parents and teachers would now be able to observe the child’s progress, see what the child has difficulties with, how quickly he/she solves problems, and devote time to specific tasks. And so, Yoli has turned into an analytics tool that will help parents better understand their children’s learning mechanisms.

During the development process, many different ideas arose. One of these was an idea regarding further development of the product in the future. To date, the game block is limited to 5 slots for playing cards, but additional card slots open up the possibility of creating more complex and longer-lasting games. Therefore, we immediately developed a function for adding additional playing fields. In the future, the game block can be expanded to a 10x5 slots playing field.

This idea is undoubtedly a good one, but it has added some difficulties to project development. The fact is that the cards communicate with the game block using NFC technology. Accordingly, each unit has its own antenna. The real challenge was setting them up so that they would not interfere with each other or with other devices nearby, yet still have uninterrupted communication without collecting signals from other antennas. This factor also influenced the passage of the EMC test, so we approached this part of the development very responsibly.

In addition to developing the main product, we’ve also taken the time to create a production testing and a programmer, with which the client can quickly and conveniently program a set of cards at the same time.

The entire project, from its inception to the finished final game, took us one year and was created by 9 people from the Grinn team. We presented the first working prototype after 4 months, and utilized the rest of the time to bring it to perfection.

As of today, Yoli is officially finished, launched, and has already managed to be shortlisted on the Danish Design Award list for 2021. We continue to support the project, add new functional aspects, and help in the development of all new games. And which ideas of yours are waiting to be implemented?