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Osmo Expands Its Global Play Movement with Coding Jam, the First Mixed-Reality Experience Blending Coding with Creativity to Make Music

In Coding Jam, kids march to their own beat by creating music in an open-ended studio by piecing together physical blocks that represent pieces of code


PALO ALTO, Calif. – WEBWIRE

The rush to teach kids science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) has struck a sour note. The brightest thinkers appreciate art and think creatively, not mechanically. That’s why Osmo, the award-winning platform revolutionizing the way kids play and learn, today launches Osmo Coding Jam: the first way to learn coding while fostering creativity by making music. 

Thomas Edison played the piano, Albert Einstein played the violin, and recent research found that on average, high-school students who studied music appreciation scored better on the SATs, both in the verbal and math sections. Osmo Coding Jam puts the Arts in STEM to create a STEAM-based experience that promotes creative problem-solving.

“Teaching kids to code makes them workers, not creators,” said Pramod Sharma, CEO and co-founder of Osmo. “It’s creativity that builds new products, like the iPhone, and new industries, like autonomous transportation, which is why Coding Jam allows children to tap into their natural creativity so they can explore both sides of their brain in play.” 

Creativity + Coding + Music 
Coding Jam is a hands-on learning experience that uses Osmo’s proprietary Reflective Artificial Intelligence to turn the area in front of an iPad into a playspace controlled by physical blocks. An open-ended music studio with dozens of characters and instruments, Coding Jam is intuitive enough for a 5-year-old but offers enough complexity for a 10-year-old to master and mix intricate compositions. Starting at $59, Coding Jam builds on Osmo’s work creating tangible programming languages that research from MIT and Northwestern has shown is most effective for teaching kids abstract concepts, like computer science.

Here’s how it works:  https://youtu.be/jn56Dm6Ozbg

  • Create music with code: Each physical block triggers an on-screen sound; snap blocks together to create Jams
  • Add some complexity: Store code into subroutine blocks and use nested repeat blocks to recreate patterns found in music
  • Add chord progressions: Give your Jams chord progressions and take advantage of one of music’s most powerful concepts with code
  • Layer your Jams: Create a track with one instrument, save it, then layer another track
  • Listen and learn: Get a daily feed of Jams made by other kids and get inspired to use advanced coding concepts


Coding Jam marks the first time physical coding creates a musical output, infusing a deeper creativity into computer science by encouraging open-ended play and experimentation. As players create more advanced songs, they collect more characters and instruments to develop songs. 

Coding Jam joins Osmo’s suite of innovative experiences and comes after other notable events for the company. It was recently named one of the most innovative companies in 2017 by Fast Company and partnered with Mattel to combine Osmo’s signature reflective AI with the company’s classic brands and bring first of their kind experiences to the world. 

Get your hands on Osmo Coding Jam today for a limited-time, introductory price of $54 at PlayOsmo.com

About Osmo
Osmo is the first brand from Tangible Play, a company founded in 2013 by former Google engineers Pramod Sharma and Jerome Scholler. By utilizing Tangible Play’s proprietary Reflective Artificial Intelligence, Osmo is a new play movement based on critical thinking, reading, math, coding and art that is not only fun but also a rich learning experience for children aged 5 to 12. 

Osmo was named one of Time Magazine’s Best Inventions, is a Parent’s Choice Award recipient, won the prestigious Oppenheim Platinum Award and has been a finalist for Toy of the Year.

Today Osmo is sold in over 50 countries and has been embraced by more than 22,000 schools. Tangible Play Inc. has headquarters in Palo Alto, CA. 

Media Contact
Maggie Philbin
VSC for Osmo 
Media@Playosmo.com
203.394.1818
 


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 Osmo
 iPad
 Computer Science
 Music
 Coding


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