Amazon Glow is a new interactive device that makes video calls feel like in-person gatherings thanks to activities families can see and do together. The device even helps children play games, read books, and create art alongside loved ones who live miles or oceans away
Here’s how it works. During video calls using Amazon Glow, a child can read, draw, and play games with other people on the call by using a large, touch-sensitive, projected space created by the device’s interactive projector.
Family members and friends on the call can see the child and participate in the activity by using their own tablet or smartphone and the free Amazon Glow app. The result is an interactive, virtual experience that feels like being side-by-side with the child in the same room.
The experience is made possible by immersive projection, sensing, and other technology built in to Amazon Glow
“Glow brings an entirely new level of fun that lets kids be kids and welcomes grown-ups into an exciting new way to connect and bond, even when they’re far away,” said Joerg Tewes, general manager of Amazon Glow.
Worry-free virtual fun
Amazon Glow is designed with parental controls front and center. Kids can only call contacts pre-approved by parents, and parents can monitor who their children call. Parents can instantly disable cameras and microphones on the device by simply closing the visible privacy shutter.
“This category-defying product has been created with safety as a priority. Amazon Glow will bring kids, parents, and grandparents together safely in new and highly interactive ways during these unique times,” said Stephen Balkam, founder and CEO of the nonprofit Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI).
So much fun, together
Activities on Amazon Glow create engaging, immersive experiences with audio, video, and tactile elements. Kids can have fun and hone their skills, while their family members and friends provide real-time encouragement. Here are some of the activities they can do together:
- Read: Young readers can pick from thousands of children’s books to read on the projected space created by Amazon Glow. Children engage with rainbow pointers, spotlights, and word bubbles that make reading more exciting.
- Play: Families can challenge young minds playing classic games like Chess, Checkers, Go Fish, and Memory Match, and new games like ABC Charades and Paddle Battle.
- Draw: Kids can create art with a palette of digital pencils, paint brushes, and stickers on a variety of themed art packs.
Features on Amazon Glow bring together the best of digital and physical worlds to fuel creativity and develop problem-solving skills for kids. Here are just a few of those features:
- Object scanning. Kids can turn a favorite toy into their own custom jigsaw puzzle, or they could scan a favorite school art project and transform it into a new masterpiece with the help of a relative or friend who lives far away.
- Glow Bits. Interactive learning kits, like the Tangram Bits puzzle game, allow kids to have fun playing with physical objects and working with their remote family members to solve challenges together.
