Video: toddler-safe DIY remote control
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Apr 7th 2009 11:26AM
posted Apr 7th 2009 11:26AM
No, this isn't one of the editors at Engadget, although -- judging by the way he conducts himself in this hands on video -- we'll probably drop him a line by the time CES 2010 rolls around. This DIY remote control consists of a USB number pad that's been rehoused in a toddler-safe enclosure and outfitted with some rather large buttons. It looks like it's just the thing for letting your little guy take control of Teletubbies, or Baby Einstein, or whatever it is the kids are into these days. Have a young one of your own? Hit the read link for the step-by-step instructions and thrilling in-progress photos. Video after the break.
[Via Hack A Day]
[Via Hack A Day]
Is that Squirtle or Blastoise on his shirt?
Blastoise I think
I dunno about that being "toddler safe." The first improvement I would recommend is to make the unit wireless. The wire combined with the size and apparent weight of the box is just asking for accidental asphyxiation.
Even worse than asphyxiation, imagine that thing traveling through your shiny 42"er
Cool hack!. but it's got a cord which is bad for a Toddlers safety, not to mention what might snap/break/come crashing down, if baby yanks the cord.
I think if most consumers had to choose between wireless usb and accidental toddler asphyxiation, wireless USB probably wouldn't win out (it never wins anything).
Yeah I agree
Child asphyxiation > wireless USB
Good that they used iEye as test sampler. Keeps him from comparing this to the iPhoney
Toddlers really shouldn't be doing a whole lot of TV watching. It's not the best for their development.
I always laughed at the "Play repeatedly" option on the "Baby Einstein" DVD menus, as if some parents actually put that DVD in, set it to play repeatedly, and then walk away for a few hours to clean the house or some such diversion. 15 minutes a day was always enough for us... all of us.
Nvm the remote control, I just thought the little tyke looked really cute there!
Yeah. Like a toddler's going to want to use that thing.
That little guys knows he's getting a raw deal. After a few minutes of playing with that box, he's going to want the big boy remote that everyone else uses.
It's a cool little project, but it's insulting the intelligence of that little guy. Little kids know shit when they see it.
Yep - my boy was using the actual remote from 1 years old, just after he could walk. Not that we watch a whole lot of TV with him (as said above, not so good for development) but he has an uncanny ability to pick up what it is the grown ups seem to be fondest of, and he won't settle for less.
I am also not sure what would be particularly unsafe about a real remote?! That said, making cool stuff for your kids is awesome in any case.
Exactly.
I don't have any kids, but I do have a year and a half old nephew. Once that kid could walk, the first things he went for were:
1. Remote controls
2. Laptop computers
3. Cellphones
If you hand him the toy version of any of these things, he looks at you like you're crazy and reaches for the real deal.
Little kids know what's up. If this little guy in the video is having fun pushing the buttons, it's not because he thinks it's a remote control replacement. It's because he thinks it's fun to push buttons. The day he figures out that this thing is supposed to be a replacement for a real remote is the last day he touches that toy.
Again, fun project, though. I applaud the guy who came up with it. I'll bet it was a fun project.
heh, we had to give our son a real cell phone to get him to leave ours alone. so we gave him an old one and kept the battery charged on it so he could know it was real. it didn't have service on it, but we realized pretty quick that even without service he could still hold down the "9" key and dial 911.
... and the toddler immediately surfs to the Playboy channel, thereby completing his anti-social training.
I actually don't think that's a pokemon shirt?
Anyhow - our little one is busy eating remote right now - by the time he knows how to use a remote, we'll just get http://www.rjcooper.com/giant-remote/giant-remote.jpg something like that.
I forget, why is a normal remote control dangerous again?
How much rewinding does a toddler need to do these days?
I kept waiting for "BABY SMASH"....
Cool... lets bring TV even to the youngest... What does it matter at what age are you going to get dumb, if you are going to anyway?
I heard there are dvds to make your kid as smart as Einstein.... TV said it so it must be true.
My guy can now fast-forward through commercials on DVR recordings using the standard Comcast remote.
Anyone who can do anything DVR-related on the Comcast remote is brilliant.
weak! my 2.5 yr old can work my Harmony One!