‘O Watch’ can play games too.
AB Wire
A 9-year-old Indian American boy Omkar Govil-Nair, a fourth grader from Union City, California, showcased his smart watch for kids ‘O Watch’, at the Maker Faire, held at the San Mateo Event Center, this past weekend.
The young entrepreneur has been going to the Maker Faire since he was four years old, reported The Mercury News.
“I made the smart watch for kids so they can easily learn programming, design and 3-D printing,” Govil-Nair said.
He described his product’s Arduino compatibility and its programming platform, which combines C and C+.
“That’s programming language,” he explained. “I learned it when I was 6.”
Omkar, along with his mom and dad, joined more than 1,300 “makers” displaying their wares at what has become a destination gathering for the past 11 years. The annual Maker Faire attracted more than 150,000 visitors over three days, organizers said.
The privately sponsored Maker Faire calls itself “The Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth,” providing a “family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness, and celebration of the Maker Movement.”
More than 1.2 million people have attended similar events in dozens of countries around the world. Projects on display feature everything from the quirky to the highly marketable, including this year’s giant mechanical squid and a solar-powered boat that its inventors hope will be the first unmanned surface vehicle to cross an ocean.
Shubha Govil, a product manager for Cisco, helped her son staff his smart-watch booth Saturday. Since February, aided by a Kickstarter campaign, about 200 ‘O Watches’ have already been sold for as much as $109 apiece. Omkar’s parents know enough to stay in the background.
And his parents aren’t too worried about an unnatural laser-focus on manufacturing and marketing, said the Mercury News.
“This is a watch, but I’m thinking about a game console that kids could program,” he said, shushing his mom when she cautioned him about giving away trade secrets. “Don’t worry,” Omkar said, “I’m just thinking about it.”
Last year, Ed Tech Magazine reported that the democratization of 3D printing may still be in its infancy, but it’s already changing the landscape of education by empowering students to make their dreams a reality, with products like that made by Govil-Nair.
The 3D-printing fan site 3Ders.org spotlighted the then eight-year-old Govil-Nair who used his skills to create his very own 3D-printed smartwatch.
“I got interested in electronics and programming 3 years back when I attended my 2nd Maker Faire. I was inspired by Quin Etnyre then the 12 year old CEO of Qtechknow. Since then I wanted to make my own product,” Govil-Nair told 3Ders.
The watch can be programmed to make games and calculate values, such as the value of Pi.
“You can program it to function as a watch with date and time functions from Arduino, you can make games and apps and with the sensor board model you can also measure temperature, humidity, pressure as well as make a compass,” he told 3Ders.
Govil-Nair and his father plan to create two development kits based on the watch, one of which will include more sensors, opening the door to more programmable possibilities.
“Even when he was 2 or 3, he wouldn’t let a laptop go; he wanted to play with it all the time,” his mother said. “When he was older, at 3 or 4, he opened it up and wanted to see what was inside.”
At age 6, Omkar wanted an Apple Watch. His parents said no, but suggested he make one himself. So he did. And now “he’s the maker and he’s sort of the CEO,” at times correcting his parents for wrong moves such as an ill-timed social media promotional campaign, Govil said.
“He’s very much tried to focus on his margins,” she said with a smile.
Omkar is not always fiddling with device development and product design. His smart watch can be used for playing games, gauging the temperature and measuring altitude and air pressure. That comes in handy for family hikes, he said.