Kid research and development company Dubit and Pennsylvania-based toyco K’NEX have developed a new virtual reality rollercoaster app.
The K’NEX Ride It! app is free with the purchase of Thrill Rides, a K’NEX roller coaster construction kit that includes a VR viewer. After kids buy the plaything, they can open the “Build It!” section of the app and design their own roller coaster to ride in VR.
All of the assets of K’NEX were purchased by Florida-based toyco Basic Fun! earlier this year. Basic Fun! will continue to manufacture the rods and connectors at an eco-friendly facility under a long-term agreement signed with The Rodon Group.
Tech companies are still waiting for virtual reality to truly take off and go mainstream, with many looking to the kids sector to make that happen. Recently, non-profit org Common Sense Media took a closer look at parent’s attitudes about VR for kids in an online study that surveyed 12,148 American adults. It found that only one in five US families (21%) with children under 18 report owning a VR device, and that the majority (65%) aren’t planning to buy any VR hardware.