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March Break gets high tech for kids at digital art installation in Toronto

When I was off from school during March Break as a kid, the most high tech my vacation ever got was sitting in front of the old family computer playing hours of 'Treasure Mountain'. Now, students on vacation have some much more advanced technology to play with, including the variety of digital art installations at TIFF's digiPlaySpace.

Now in its third year, the digiPlaySpace is a multi-artist exhibition at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, a venue which is usually the heart of the Toronto International Film Festival. Every spring, though, the building opens its doors to younger film-goers, hosting the TIFF Kids International Film Festival from April 8-21. As a part of the event, the digiPlaySpace opens its doors to kids and adults alike, giving visitors a chance to let their imaginations run wild with the aid of technology.

Stepping into the gallery where digiPlaySpace is hosted, the theme of "Playing and Creating" comes through loud and clear: With a little tech-savvyness, you can bring to life just about anything you can imagine. During my short visit I got to dance with Elmo, build a robot in under a minute, paint with water and light, and print 3D chain links.

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What first caught my eye was a virtual reality version of the 1984 Atari game Paperboy. PaperDude VR by Toronto studio Globacore has you sit on a real bicycle and pedal while wearing an Oculus Rift virtual reality helmet, then mime throwing newspapers as you pedal through a neighbourhood, challenging you to land as many as you can in the mailboxes.

"It's a full body workout, a full immersive experience." Denis Lirette, Creative Director at Globacore Interactive Technologies, told Yahoo Canada News. "I really hope [kids] get inspired. These kinds of games are going to come out, a lot of virtual reality games, and I think it's going to be really important to have some real action, some real exercise playing video games."

Keeping in the old video game theme, I was also drawn to Super Pong, an interactive game that is set up like a fooseball table, but the players are controlling Pong-style paddles to knock a virtual ball into the opponent's goal. The game was created by Rio de Janeiro-based studio Super Uber for an event recognizing soccer star Pele during the 2006 World Cup. Judging by the cries of excitement from my fellow competitors while I was playing, it's going to be a big hit with kids at its Toronto premiere.

One of my other favourite interactive exhibits was the Sphero Speedway, a robotic sphere that you can control with your smartphone. Directing the coloured, flashing ball through an obstacle course felt like the evolution of the RV cars I used to play with as a kid — except Spheros seems much sturdier, as Bryan Rowe of Orbotix Inc. demonstrated how kid-and-dog proof the little spheres are by standing on one.

"I thought I'd broken one," Rowe told Yahoo Canada News. "I dropped it off an eight-foot landing onto a wood floor. I thought, 'Ooh, that's broken,' but it kept on driving."

Beyond the physical capabilities of Sphero, its capacity to teach kids as well is what makes it particularly cool. Rowe explains that Sphero is completely programmable using a custom coding language called orbBasic, giving kids the opportunity to learn how code works and a straightforward way to test their coding skills.

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Throughout the whole exhibit, there are dozens of things for kids to touch and play with, but most of all, opportunities for kids to move and think. Tech often gets a bad rap when it comes to how it's used by children, often being blamed for everything from poor spelling to obesity. The digiPlaySpace is just one example of how kids can use tech to learn, be active, and have fun during their break.

The digiPlaySpace is open at Toronto's TIFF Bell Lightbox March 8-April 21, and costs $10 entry for all participants, or when paired with a movie from the TIFF Kids festival, $15 for children 3-13 and $20 for adults.

Art exhibits featured in the video: "Water Light Graffiti" by Antonin Fourneau, "PaperDude VR" by Globacore, "Cubelets" by Modular Robotics, "Halo" by Alex Beim and Travis Kirton, "Super Pong" by SuperUber, "Sphero Speedway" by Orbotix Inc., 3D Print Station, "Ibb and Obb" game by Sparpweed, and "Be in the Scene!" green screen experience with Sesame Street.

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