Augmented Reality Robot Book Present for Birthday Boy

I don’t remember if I ever bought any present for a birthday boy aged 9 in my adulthood. RK and I first went into Toys R Us but found it hard to pick anything. Since the birthday boy likes books, we went into Popular next and stumbled upon this awesome gift choice for boys: iRobot by Carlton Books.

iRobot is a book about robots that leverages on augmented reality (AR) technology. Besides educating kids about robotic technology, the book allows kids to build a robot, walk a robot, interact with humanoid, fly a drone and have robot battles with friends, all via a free mobile apps (Android). This is a great way of getting kids interested in drones after which parents can use the letsflywisely.com and find out the best drones and their reviews which they can then buy for their growing children.

iRobot AR Book Review
This is the book cover. It’s a hardcover book.

The birthday boy is obsessed with his mobile phone; yes, he has his own phone. So we thought this book with AR activity is definitely something he’d enjoy and learn from at the same time.

book about robot for boy
Most part of the book talks about robotic technology; about rover, humanoid, save and rescue robot, etc. I’d definitely like this book if I get it because I’m a bit nerdy that way.

For the least, I tried and tested the book prior to wrapping it up, and I loved it. Just in case he doesn’t know how to use the book, at least I can guide him right? Haha.

robot book birthday present boy
Here’s the robot I built. I walked him to the side of the book on the bed to pose for this photo. Haha.
robot AR book for boy
For the second activity, I got my robot to do fancy poses before I turned it into humanoid size.
robot AR for boy
Boom! He’s so big he’s reaching the ceiling now. See the air cond at the back for size perspective.
flying AR drone
This was not easy… Flying a drone. I guess it’d be better to play outdoor because I had such a small space to maneuver my drone. It doesn’t crash since it’s AR. But still..

You can also battle your robot with friends so it’s a social activity too.

Besides iRobot, there are other topics too. I remember seeing iDinosaur, iSolar System, iScience in Popular. It was about RM39.90 or so; for an award-winning educational and interactive augmented reality (AR) book as a birthday gift for a boy, it think it’s worth it.

Watch this video to see what other Carlton Books Digital Magic series there are out there.

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