This article was taken from the May 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Silas Adekunle has a bold plan: to overrun school playgrounds with robots. "I wanted to create something like Pokémon in real life," says the founder of Bristol-based Reach Robotics. The result: Mecha Monsters, fighting customisable robots controlled via a smartphone app. "You'll have a physical character in front of you, and you can control it via an app and battle each other," says Adekunle, 23. As it levels up, your Monster will gain new skills -- or can be taught special moves.
Nigeria-born Adekunle founded the company while studying at the Bristol Robotics Lab after becoming frustrated with current "robots". "The toy industry products are really clunky," he says. Encouraged by the success of hybrid toys such as Anki DRIVE (WIRED 04.14) and Skylanders, he developed a prototype. "We offload processing from the robot to your smartphone," says Adekunle. He hopes to start accepting pre-orders for his robots this autumn. "Each will come with their own back-stories and accessories," he says. But he also has a second, more subtle mission: in maintaining their bots, he hopes that kids will be encouraged to learn about science and engineering. Educate -- then exterminate.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
