Integrating a mobile app and range of toys, PiXL Pals allow children to create, code, upload and observe simple animations to these cool characters.

To conceive the range of weird and wonderful characters with technological influences, Designworks explored a wide range of options whilst keeping a common, family feel. Working closely with the client, these concept directions were developed into 3D digital sculpts and engineered for mass manufacture. To reduce time to market, the dedicated app was developed in-house simultaneously.

Animations are created on the PiXL app and uploaded in a wirelessly. Simply hold the PiXL character against the phone or tablet and a series of flashes from the LCD are read by a light sensor on the character’s back. These flashes are decoded and the animation played on the toy! The user can additionally ‘bumpinate’ their PiXL Pals to make them interact with one another and swap animations.