Very cool. This will probably get some kids onto the path of a future programming career. I remember my first PC running MS DOS, being young and curios I just had to try everything, eventually stumbling upon Pascal, and that would basically shape my adult life.
Sometimes I worry about the new generation though, despite the prevalence of technology and information, most grow up on locked down mobile systems, which are made for consumption and don't promote creating very well. They are also very opaque to what's actually happening under the hood. Mobile UI is an godsend for user experience, but it's also one heck of an abstraction layer.
Maybe that's why so many people are trying their luck with becoming influencers, streamers or youtubers, because that's seems like the kind of content creation these devices promote.
Anyway, on the same vein, I was positively surprised when Overwatch added some kind of visual coding environment for custom games a year or so ago. Seemed a bit silly, but give kids the tools, and they'll create. I'm sure that alone will have a real positive impact for many young adults.
I’ve gotten my kid very into Nintendo Labo. You build toys from cardboard that hold the controllers and so you can drive a car in the game with a cardboard wheel, for example. But the whole thing is a veneer on learning how the toys work through additional activities, and then a drag and drop programming interface is available so you can make your own interactive tools using the Switch. He’s not quite old enough to grasp the programming interface, but the discovery section demystifies the abstraction layer of the controller. Its not just a box. Its a box you open up and change.
If you haven't bought the VR kit, they added a full 3D editor on top of the engine from the first few releases, which allows you to create VR or non-VR games. It's absolutely incredible and was sadly overlooked. I've been hoping for them to update it with proper sharing and do a new marketing push but doubtful such a thing is coming. There are 2 VR sets available- the full kit is more impressive but the software is the same on both if you care more about the diy games than what Nintendo provides.
If you are interested in this topic (coding on mobile), can you take a look at my pet project https://github.com/stefanhaustein/tantilla and and let me know what you think? O:)
Sometimes I worry about the new generation though, despite the prevalence of technology and information, most grow up on locked down mobile systems, which are made for consumption and don't promote creating very well. They are also very opaque to what's actually happening under the hood. Mobile UI is an godsend for user experience, but it's also one heck of an abstraction layer.
Maybe that's why so many people are trying their luck with becoming influencers, streamers or youtubers, because that's seems like the kind of content creation these devices promote.
Anyway, on the same vein, I was positively surprised when Overwatch added some kind of visual coding environment for custom games a year or so ago. Seemed a bit silly, but give kids the tools, and they'll create. I'm sure that alone will have a real positive impact for many young adults.