“In the Studio,” Sifteo’s David Merrill Unveils “Sifteo Cubes” To The World

Editor’s Note: Semil Shah is an EIR with Javelin Venture Partners and has been a contributor to TechCrunch since January 2011. You can follow him on Twitter at @semil.

“In the Studio” presents the first of two special holiday segments this Thanksgiving by welcoming one of the co-founders of one of my personal favorite startup companies. Almost five years ago, Sifteo’s David Merrill and his cofounder, Jeevan Kalanathi, embarked on a long journey that would take them from MIT’s Media Lab to San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood, to blazing a trail for other venture-backed hardware startups during a time when traditional venture capital was more reluctant to deploy funds in this space. The result, after years and years of hard work, persistance, and learnings, is the Sifteo Cube, a set of small siftable computerized tiles with preloaded games for kids to play with and learn about math, spacial recognition, and most importantly, tactile play with real objects.

I invited Sifteo’s President, David Merrill, into the studio to talk about his long journey, the TED talk that turned his idea into a sensation, and the ups-and-downs encountered along the way, when hardware startups weren’t “cool.” In our discussion, we discuss the world of play for kids, the venture environment toward hardware today, what other resources hardware entrepreneurs can access, the trials of building a hardware startup and platform company at the same time, and a live demo of his cubes. Sifteo is unveiling these gaming cubes to the world right now, designed for folks aged 7 to adult, and inspired to make kids and others play with real tactile objects to learn. Merrill and his colleagues also have an SDK for developers out there who want to build educational games on this new platform. (There’s another Sifteo video demo below.)

Overall, when it comes to the long struggle of entrepreneurship, of creating an idea and working on it for a really long time, of building hardware, software, and a platform at the same time, a company like Sifteo, its founders, and early investors really deserve a lot of credit for their patience and vision to bring these kind of consumer electronics to market.

Flipping Tip: Catch students doing something right!

 

Catch a student doing something right today!

Motivation is a key factor and you can make a huge impact on it by catching a student doing something right and praising them for it. Now let's take it one small step further.

Why not use your iPhone and iMovie to capture your praise and his/her pride in a job well done. A short videoclip is all you need. 

Let's say a child has done a nice job on a painting. When you post it on the wall have your student stand beside it and videotape their expression as you offer a few words of praise.

Better yet! Have the student say something about their work before you praise them.

Now it won't take long to point-and-shoot a video and imagine how proud your student will be. Isn't that pride well worth the $4.95 you paid for iMovie at the Apple iTunes App Store?

Spruce your videoclip up right if you wish. iMovie comes with visual themes and you can choose your favorite theme music and sound effects too. 

Share the pride! You can email or memo the video to the parents. Or post it on your school website if its secure. Sharing will payback dividends. Parents will have a favorable impression of you and the school. The Principal will be impressed with your creativity and commitment.

Your peers will want their own iPhones equipped with iMovie too.