A company named BioPop announced their release of what they are calling “the world’s first bioluminescent pet”, available on October 8.
On a quest to produce a sustainable, biological light, researchers Andy Bass and Dean Sauer discovered that taking care of dinoflagellates was kind of like taking care of a pet. With a small amount of nurturing, the “dinos”, as they took to calling them, would create a magnificent light show. The light show was also reliant on nurturing; the luminosity depended on how well they cared for them. When brainstorming for a product nickname, chose the nickname they gave the dinoflagellates, the Dino Pet was born.
Filled with photosynthetic dinoflagellates, the Dino Pet soaks up energy from the sun during the day, similar to the way a houseplant does. At night, the Dino Pet uses that energy to entertain by producing a beautiful blue light.
“We’ve created an interactive toy that instills a sense of wonder in people of all ages. The Dino Pet produces an alluring blue light by using sunlight, water and nutrients, instead of batteries and electricity. By getting kids to un-plug from the latest technology and connect with nature, we are inspiring young minds to ask questions and see that magic is found in understanding the world around us.” says Andy Bass, CEO and co-founder of BioPop.
The Dino Pet allows you to hold one of nature’s most magical occurrences in the palm of your hand.
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Aw, it’s kind of cute. It’s great to see a toy for children that has nothing to do with technology. I hope that this toy will inspire a whole generation of kids to become interested in nature and find new ways to preserve it.
I looked it up because this is the sort of thing my daughter would love and the price isn’t bad. The BioPop website has it for $59.95. I still have to read the detailed care instructions to make sure it’ll be a good fit for our home, but I might be getting her one for Christmas.
This is so cool and fascinating. I am 22 years old and even I want one. This toy is a lot different than others and I think it would make a fantastic gift.
I have a feeling if/when it goes to market I will be buying at least three, one for me and the other two for the kids. It is pretty interesting but I don’t see how one toy is going to get kids away from technology. It is everywhere, in the home, at school, etc.
This is an incredible idea. I could see kids really enjoying this toy and I wouldn’t mind having one of these for myself. I could imagine this in a child’s room at night. I bet the glowing blue light would make for a really good night light and its cool that it doesn’t use any electricity of any kind.
While the idea is pretty cool, one drawback I noticed was that for the thing to emit light, one has to keep shaking it. A good addition will be a vibrator stand to place the toy. That way, you are spared the trouble of shaking it on a regular basis.
Having played some basketball myself, I have to say, for a kid with barely two fingers in one arm, this game can be very hard. But I hope he finds his way with the ball, and shoot some hoops!