“Dad, what are you saying? Thymio is not a robot, it is a machine without 2 wheels! Indeed, it is like Mario! ” THYMIO, THE TOY ROBOT FOR CHILDREN

Nicolò – 3 years

Some time ago, thanks to Borgione, I had the opportunity to meet Thymio , a small educational toy robot, mobile and very versatile, able to stimulate the imagination of adults and children. Usually my reaction in front of all the technological products is a mixture of curiosity and fear : I immediately look for the instructions, find the Italian version and start reading immediately like a nerd. But as soon as I understand how it turns on, goodbye booklet, and I go into self-taught mode.

I don’t know if this is my way of doing but, while I use smartphones, tablets, smart-TVs every day, a strange feeling remains on me, as if I never felt “updated”. It seems to me that I am never able to know and exploit the functions of these technological devilry.

Several times I said to myself: it will be the age, I don’t need to know all the commands, as long as the phone does this, etc etc.

All this strange speech to tell you that a few days ago, thanks to my son Nicolò and Thymio , I learned an important lesson: it is not a question of age, laziness or other trivial excuses; often we must remember to look at the world with the eyes of children, without filters and preconceptions. It is not fair to be afraid and frightened by technological advances and at the same time we must not be too concerned about how our children will interact with these objects. How did I realize this?

About a month ago I showed Thymio for the first time to Nicolò, my eldest son who is just over three years old. I was really curious to understand how he would react in front of this little robot with a fairly neutral appearance, but with some preset behaviors.

My colleagues at work explained to me that, thanks to these settings, it works right out of the box, without even having to program it. Indeed, for the little ones it is really stimulating to discover its reactions. “You will see Angelo that it will be fun”.

Maybe, but inside of me I think it’s a bit premature to try to use a robot with a three-year-old, especially with my three-year-old. I wait for Sunday afternoon, announced as rainy, and proudly show my son one of the latest news from the Borgione world.

“See Nicolò, this is a robot and his name is Thymio. You like?”

“Dad, what are you saying? Is Thymio a robot? For me it is a car without two wheels! Where did the others put them? ” And while he laughs, he immediately tries to push it and then realizes that the wheels are putting up a bit of resistance. Then he urges me immediately:

“Will you turn it on please?” “Nicolò, there isn’t a button to turn it on. Do you know how to do it? ”

He looks at it, turns it over and turns it on in less than ten seconds. Just like the first time with the smartphone and tablet. While I grew up with the on-off button, he understands that that circular notch allows you to access the object and its commands.

“Come on dad, make it go on.” “Nicolò, Thymio actually moves on its own if you want, and it behaves differently depending on the color it has. Now that he is green he is your friend, you will see that he follows you. Try to put your hand near him and let him follow ”. No sooner said than done. Nicolò holds his hand in front of Thymio and with a little push and pull he immediately tries to be followed up under the table, drawing, with some difficulty and a couple of heads, a clear path to get out of that labyrinth of legs.

Upon exiting the labyrinth, however, he stops, squares him for a few seconds and then can’t resist. He gently approaches his hand again, follows him and then suddenly engages reverse. Here is Thymio, the friend version, withdraws nervously as soon as the hand gets too close and touches it.

“Dad, do as Mario. Escape”. “Mario Scappa?”. “Yeah, when I hug him he runs away. And then Mario doesn’t speak. Thymio, on the other hand, does he speak? ” “No, Nicolò. Thymio does not speak, at most he makes a few sounds ”. “But then he is just like Mario, he too does not speak, but makes a lot of verses”.

I discovered in this way that his greatest friend from kindergarten, the one present in every story and in every fantastic adventure of his, still does not speak. I had never understood before that moment that Mario and Nicolò, always together in every school photo, in every game, in every activity, understand each other wonderfully and without using words. I was still engrossed in this chance discovery that the further question comes on time:

“And what are the other colors? What do the other colors do? ”

“Let’s find out together. We squeeze where it lights up and see if it changes color. Here, it has turned red. From what my colleagues have taught me, Thymio Rosso should be afraid ”.

“Fear? But if she’s afraid why doesn’t she cry? ”

“Not all of us cry when we are afraid. Try to scare him and let’s see what he does “. At this point Nicolò slowly approaches and then suddenly screams very loudly at Thymio. But now it hurts us because nothing happens. The little robot stands still with its red light on and flashing.

“Dad I can’t”. “Come on Nicolò, try another way. You know when I play the wolf and run after you? Try to take it with your hand. ” At that point he realizes that he has to do the opposite of the gesture he did before to be followed in the friendly version. He approaches his hand and realizes that Thymio withdraws and that, pressed by Nicolò’s hand, he moves back more and more, until he touches the wall. It is at that moment that Thymio goes haywire, or “screams” and freezes because he is trapped, terrified of fear because he has no way out. “Dad, so it looks like he’s crying. He looks like Giovanni when he touches my games ”. “Actually Nicolò, Thymio looks like your brother Giovanni when you push him away, because he has touched your games. Now, instead, do you want to see Thymio imitating John as he crawls and you put things in front of him? ”.

Let’s move on to the yellow color and here is the Thymio explorer, which starts straight and changes direction in front of the obstacles. “It’s true dad. Giovanni also makes the journey when I put things in front of him. Come on, come on, let’s take a long long path with many obstacles. ”

We spent the rest of the afternoon creating paths with balloons, shoe boxes, bottles of paint, and the goal was always to put Thymio in difficulty , or to create a dead end from which he could not get out. Alas, just like with Giovanni. At a certain point, after almost two hours of journeys and with my and Thymio’s batteries almost flat, Nicolò tries successfully to attach a Lego brick to the Thymio. “Dad, dad look! Can you make me a truck with Lego? ” “Yes sure, but after dinner. Now we all have to recharge ourselves, us with a pizza and Thymio with his cord, just like the telephone “.

“Yes, but Thymio is better looking than your phone. Then we attach the Legos and make a crane, or rather a ship. No, the ship doesn’t have wheels, we can’t make a ship “.

At the end of the day, with Nicolò in bed and a bit of tranquility, I thought that my doubts about technology and children were actually linked both to adult preconceptions, and to objects born and produced for adults, such as smartphone or tablet. Actually I can say from my personal experience that Thymio stimulated Nicolò in a completely natural way.

Nicolò saw and discovered Thymio in different ways: first as an object in its own right, capable of moving and reacting to certain events and / or commands; both as an object to replicate other objects of everyday life and completely real, such as the truck, the crane, the ship, his brother Giovanni; and finally as an object capable of replicating behaviors observed in the people around him.  He managed to do all this without any instruction booklet but only thanks to his curious eyes, the skills built and acquired in his short life, and above all thanks to his mind, not burdened by filters and fears often due to prejudices.

I trust you that today, thanks to that surprising afternoon with Nicolò and Thymio , I look with less suspicion at technology and I try to be more curious and free from prejudices in everything I do, from work, to friendships to moments of play with my sons.

Finally I can tell you that the other day I was lucky enough to meet Mario. He didn’t say anything to me, not even a simple hello, but I certainly assure you that I will never forget his smile and his happy eyes as soon as he saw me enter school with his great friend Nicolò.