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back to article Snubbed R Us: Microsoft eschews Vulture Consultants in Playmobil tech research

Despite a failure to consult Reg Playmobil academia, Microsoft Research has unleashed new toy findings: a playmat for little ones that combines capacitive sensing, Near Field Communication (NFC), a kid-friendly user interface and Playmobil. Google's SECRET London office Revealed: Google's SECRET London office READ MORE In …

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  1. Bronek Kozicki
    Pint

    Thank you

    For bringing back the memory of Lester Haines

    (wipes small tear)

    26 0 Reply
    1. magickmark
      Reply Icon
      Pint

      Re: Thank you

      Here's one for Lester

      Cheers

      16 0 Reply
  2. ukgnome
    Pint

    A pint for Lester's memory

    13 0 Reply
  3. hplasm
    Devil

    RIP Lester :(

    But, out of the darkness, light!

    Microsoft are finally concentrating on what they are best at.

    Toys! Yay!

    10 1 Reply
  4. chivo243 Silver badge
    Pint

    So glad to see Lester's name back on El Reg! Has there been any thought to resurrecting the Post Pub Nosh? I thoroughly enjoyed it!

    6 0 Reply
    1. Ellipsis
      Reply Icon
      Angel

      > So glad to see Lester's name back on El Reg!

      It’s in everything the server sends. Check the HTTP headers…

      7 0 Reply
  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The boffins are actually keen to emphasise the educational play aspect of the device...

    Rather than the harvesting of kids data, well, the data scientists are only playing, aren't they?

    7 1 Reply
  6. masonjoyers

    Big heads

    The "big head dolls" are Pop characters. Basically cartoon versions of a bunch of pop culture characters.

    Check out https://www.funko.com.

    4 0 Reply
  7. Gene Cash Silver badge

    And the robot at the end is an existing toy called Robosapien

    2 0 Reply
  8. Bob Wheeler
    Stop

    swiping ...

    On this side of the pond, 'swiping' something has a different meaning - 'hey who nicked my toys?'

    6 0 Reply
  9. Stuart Castle Silver badge

    Good to see Lester mentioned again. Since he went, LOHAN and his various other ventures appear to have fallen by the wayside.

    Regarding the article, it's nice to see Microsoft have found a use for some of the concepts behind the original surface (the one before Microsoft realised people weren't willing to pay $5,000 for a touch sensitive display built into a table).

    6 1 Reply
  10. Cubical Drone

    When will it stop?

    Will people not be happy until every tactile experience that requires imagination be replaced or plugged into a video screen?

    8 0 Reply
  11. Mage Silver badge

    This is terrible.

    People doing Minecraft or Lego video games instead of Lego (at age FOUR!) is bad enough.

    Too much screen time already and not enough playing with actual stuff. You know, sawing off bits of Barbie and then taking her to hospital.

    6 0 Reply
    1. Alister
      Reply Icon

      Re: This is terrible.

      You know, sawing off bits of Barbie and then taking her to hospital.

      Ah yes, those far off innocent days...

      3 0 Reply
  12. earl grey
    Facepalm

    so how does this work

    when the knight and the lady are stacked up? Just askin'

    3 0 Reply
  13. GIRZiM
    WTF?

    A Solution Looking For A Problem

    So, the toys are placed on the floor and an image of them appears on the tablet display next to them.

    I'm confused - I've read and re-read the article several times, but I can't for the life of me see where it mentions the front-facing webcam.

    1 0 Reply
  14. TrumpSlurp the Troll
    Trollface

    Disrupt. Break things! Fail early fail often!!

    Has this been tested in a household with one or more cats?

    1 0 Reply

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