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reaDIYmate: Wi-Fi connected characters made with papercraft

reaDIYmate: Wi-Fi connected characters made with papercraft

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reaDIYmate is a series of programmable papercraft pals with Wi-Fi connectivity. You can assemble them in 10 minutes or so, and they come in two parts: a moving paper "body" with a motor and a speaker inside, and a computer "brain" with a button, 2GB flash memory and a Wi-Fi radio that hooks into various social networks.

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realdiymate
realdiymate

Mixing paper and electronics seems to be the new in thing at Kickstarter. A few days ago we saw the cardboard Berlin Boombox, and now we have the reaDIYmate (pronounced "readymate"), a series of programmable papercraft pals with Wi-Fi connectivity. You can assemble them in 10 minutes or so, and they come in two parts: a moving paper "body" with a motor and a speaker inside, and a computer "brain" with a button, 2GB flash memory and a Wi-Fi radio. There are two main body types, the Paper Toys and the Kinetic Sculptures, and both come in a variety of styles from artists and designers.

Once the reaDIYmate is hooked up online via a simple web interface, you can program them to do all kinds of things — play an MP3 when you get a Twitter or Facebook notification, check into Foursquare whenever you press the button on the "brain," play a sound file when you email it to a linked address, and so on. The platform is also Arduino-compatible for those who want to delve a little deeper, and you can add more than 50 solderless electronic bricks. The lowest pledge that'll get you a reaDIYmate kit is $100, with an estimated shipping date of June if the project gets funded.