Geeking out over VoIP-enabled toys

If you work in the telcommunications industry, you’re probably a tech geek of some sort. You might not consider yourself one if you’ve just joined the industry, but if you stick around long enough to learn about the technology available and can successfully sell telecom products simply based on the passion you exude for what you’re selling (call recording and mobility applications, anyone?), chances are somebody, somewhere, will think of you as a geek.

At Maverick Networks, we definitely have our geeky moments. For instance, our marketing and PR specialist, Jennifer Leslie (@JennMariePR), shed a few tears this week because she wasn’t at the 2012 International CES tradeshow. Fortunately for her, her obsession with social media allowed her to get constant updates via Twitter from accounts such as Pete Cashmore of Mashable,

CNET  and TechCrunch.

So, when she stumbled upon an article by Adam Bunker of Electricpig about some of the weirdest gadgets at CES 2012, we couldn’t contain our geeky excitement over the VoIP LEGO, a version of the LEGO Mindstorms NXT line. According to the article, the vehicle/robot can be controlled via Skype, enabling users to “call” it and control it from anywhere in the world.

What we can’t decide is what’s more intriguing about this production – the fact that VoIP technology can be used to control a LEGO robot, or the fact that the creator of the project is only 14-years-old! For the sake of our blog’s content, we’ll speak on the technology rather than his age (but really… 14-years-old and making headlines at CES with his knowledge of web code, screen sharing, and Bluetooth connectivity. We sure are impressed!)

Leon, the pre-teen mastermind behind this creation, explains how the robot works on his blog, World of MindStorms:

“The webpage is fairly simple – it’s got three arrows (one forward, two to the sides) and a start and a stop button. Clicking the start arrow will begin a Skype conversation with my computer, after which the user should share their screen; the NXT standing in front of my computer (called 'Jeeves') can then “see” the webpage the user is viewing.

That’s where the cool part kicks in – when the user clicks any one of the arrows or the stop button, the page will change to a different shade of gray. This shade of gray is then picked up by Jeeves, who turns it into a Bluetooth message for the other NXT (called 'Alfred'). The car then drives in the direction the user tells it to, while remaining within a fenced off area where the webcam can see it.

So, the user can drive a LEGO Mindstorms NXT car, from the comfort of his or her home, without having to install any kind of software (provided that they have Skype).”

You can also watch the robot in action on his blog, as well.

Although the idea is fairly simple and there is only one robot able to be controlled, this kid’s ease with such a common video conferencing source likeSkype shows that advances in telecom technology is moving faster than ever, and reaching younger and younger audiences.

We’d like to think of Leon as a maverick, as well. By thinking outside the [LEGO] box, he's found a way to use such a common tool and turn it in to something that may actually be of use one day for many businesses. Sure, the U.S. government has far more advanced technologies to control devices like a drone, but who knows what use companies will find for VoIP-controlled devices modeled after Leon’s LEGO Mindstorms NXT car?

All we can say is geek on, little man, and keep up the hard work so that we may be able to sell your technology one day.