During the spring semester of my first year at MIT, I took 2.00B Toy Product Design, a class that introduces students to the design process through the creation of a toy. The class culminates in a final project where students design, prototype, and present their toy concepts.

Our team of 5, Team Polar Bear, came up with many ideas through brainstorming sessions, poster presentations, and even playtested a few ideas at the Discovery Museum for kids. We ultimately landed on a 2v2 reaction-based game, Super Sync. Each player would have four colored bands, one for each limb. When a central tower lit up a certain color, teammates would have to touch the corresponding limb to each other to score a point. The game was designed to be fast-paced and fun, with the goal of getting players to move around and interact with each other. Of course, we made it superhero themed because who doesn't find that fun (Black Panther 2 had also been filmed on campus that year)?

We did run into some technical challenges towards the end, particularly with the RFID sensing, leading us to pivot to a reed switch-based solution for detecting limb touches and demoing with just two limbs as opposed to four. Despite these challenges, we were able to create a working prototype and present it at the class showcase, which was livestreamed to the entire class and their families.