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Posted in Pitch Pool
Originally posted by MET student adam brody on 20/09/2018
I discovered this programable ball while browsing Kickstarter. The ball is durable enough that children can throw and catch it giving them the opportunity to truly physically interact with the device.
I've directed observatories, science museums, research labs, incubators, and about a dozen startups. I'm happiest as an innovator and entrepreneur.
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First, I believe this was titled wrong and it should be “Hackaball – A computer you can throw.”
More to the pitch itself:
The pain point itself is obvious enough and an age-old one. We’re always trying to get kids to go out and be active more instead of being sedentary; this has obvious health implications. The solution is unconvincing to me, however. Hackaball is nowhere near the substitute of the video games that are so popular with young kids nowadays. There is nothing fundamentally different about it from just a regular ball where kids use their imagination to form games instead of through an app. This does not produce enough incentive to actually motivate kids to go out and be active, especially kids who were already very into video games. The market is there and viable, for sure, but the solution just isn’t up to par to serve that market need.
The only redeeming quality about this product is the programming aspect, which I feel would be more compelling and attractive to kids, where they can interact with what they programmed themselves. The explanation of this aspect in the pitch, however, is mediocre, and I’m not quite sure how it works.
At US$69, the Hackaball is quite expensive and I personally would never pay that amount for a fancy ball, when a kid’s imagination can easily substitute it without much difference.