When I used to babysit my younger cousins, Play-Doh was always the object of our playtime. My cousins would sculpt goofy, googly-eyed monsters, while I’d make uninspired blobs of nothing. Where the kids had imagination, I found myself soured by the dour reality of Adulthood, sapped of all creativity. But still, Play-Doh has always managed to be a fun bonding time. With Play-Doh’s new augmented reality Touch Shape to Life Studio, the classic sculpting toy just got virtual.
a more creative addition to the toys-to-life trend
Play-Doh’s Touch Shape to Life Studio can cost nothing to you, or the ripe price of $39.99. Its free component comes in the shape of the iOS app; its costly-ness in the form of a special “kit” that you can pick up at any Apple store. The kit comes with Play-Doh of course, in addition to “character stampers,” stencils, a stage to display your creations for scanning into the app, and other sorts of tools to bend the clay-like creations to your personal whims.
Play-Doh’s Touch Shape to Life Studio is basically a glorified character creator, but for kids. A chance for folks to build their own weirdly shaped blobs of Play-Doh creatures, and imbue them with life digitally as they’re animated onto an iPad’s screen: and even have them star in small games. I know I sure as heck can’t craft anything worthwhile with a hunk of Play-Doh, but for kids like my little cousins, it’s sure to inspire a bit more creativity to the toys-to-life trend in a world of static Amiibos and Skylanders.
Play-Doh’s Touch Shape to Life Studio is on sale on the Apple store for $39.99.
