Dammit. For a while it seemed like the swingset, one of life's simplest pleasures, would never get caught up in all the high-techery that dominates our lives. But that was just a pipe dream, as the Octavia promises to turn swinging into an interactive sound adventure. Ugh.
The device attaches to the ropes holding up a swing (we're not sure if it works with chains too) and claims to make the playground activity even more enjoyable with three different sound games (Applause, Beat, and Concert) that are automatically triggered as someone swings higher and higher. Once again pushing kids to perform for a reward.
The self-contained unit, which was actually announced last year and has only just begun shipping to schools in Europe, is solar-powered so it should run indefinitely. And it can shrug off the elements since the speaker is pointed downwards towards the swinger. Unfortunately it seems the average Joe can't buy one just yet. The distributor's only interested in selling them to businesses for a hefty $625 a pop. Which makes us worry that cities and schools might try to monetize playgrounds to cover the cost. Did you make sure to bring enough change for the slide?
[Son-X Play via Engadget]