Review: Osmo iPhone Base – A New Way to Play With a Phone

Osmo iPhone Base – A Cool New Way to Play with an iPhone

My daughter ALWAYS looks forward to birthday gifts from a certain uncle (I don’t want to say favorite)… Well, this year was no different. With my husband and I recently upgrading our phones, this freed up one for our daughter to use — and with that in mind — her uncle delivered a pretty cool new birthday present: an Osmo iPhone Base.

At first glance, this might not seem like a STEM toy. While it clearly delivers on the TECHNOLOGY criteria, it also offers kids an opportunity to incorporate ART and creativity (STEAM). Let’s jump in and get a closer look!

An Osmo what??? A toy to help your kids draw complicated pictures (but it’s more than that!)

I’ll have to admit. When the wrapping paper came off and the box came out, I had no clue what this thing was nor did my daughter.  Are we really that clueless??  Yea, I guess so.

I haven’t seen these in local stores.

Nowhere.

However, online is a different story and the usual suspects (e.g. Amazon, Walmart, etc.) offer a few Osmo products – one for an iPhone and one for an iPad.

BUT!

When my daughter figured out that the Osmo toy would be something she could play together with an iPhone it made for a perfect gift.

So… what does the Osmo iPhone Base do?? Quite a bit!

The creators of Osmo describe it as a way to combine physical play with digital entertainment.  Be sure to check out the main Osmo site for a better run down of all the product offerings.  How I would describe it – a toy that works with either an iPhone or an iPad so that kids are less “zombie-like” while playing with the device.

Note:  it may totally just be a thing with my kids, but it feels like every time they pick up a phone or tablet, their connection with the “real world” and people just goes by the wayside.  Of course, not all kids show zombie-like symptoms. While I don’t want to completely cut off the device, it’s definitely something could go without seeing.

Osmo uses a red reflector which attaches right on top of the camera. With the phone or tablet in an upright position, the reflector allows the camera to show whatever is on the ground in front of it up on the screen.

Think about how old school silhouette drawings would be done with a projector and a drawing behind it. Same kind of concept. As we will run through in a minute, what the kids need to trace is shown on the screen. The camera is showing the kids where to draw and as they move their pen/crayon/pencil on the paper, they watch themselves “draw” on the screen.

Essentially, once the device is connected to your iPhone or iPad, it allows kids to manipulate in real-time pictures that are right in front of the device. This lets kids play with objects/drawings while watching themselves on the iPhone. While the most obvious game to play using Osmo is drawing (called Masterpiece), they have put a twist on it that takes it to another level.

What else can it do?

Osmo offers a range of different games and packs you can buy that work with either base.  The default games that you can download for free for the iPhone model are called Masterpiece and Newton. For this review, we will run through our initial experience with Masterpiece. In this app, kids can take a picture of pretty much any object (or use some preloaded pics), and Osmo helps them draw it.

Brief overview of our experience

I would say overall, we had a positive experience with the Osmo iPhone Base. However, there were some initial frustration points with Masterpiece where we needed to work out some technical difficulties like app download (easy) and getting the right light (tougher).

Once we resolved the issues, and got our daughter comfortable with the setup, she was able to run with it on her own. Now, perhaps some of the allure has worn off, because she hasn’t really gone back to Masterpiece. I do think some of the coding games would spark her interest.

Setting It Up – How We Ran Through Setup and What Went Wrong

Will the Osmo iPhone Base be a winner??We received the Osmo iPhone Base, but I believe setting up the iPad version is very similar. The package itself contains a little travel bag, the stand and the red reflector clip that goes on top of the phone’s camera. Easy to keep everything together!

To start, we first created an account and downloaded the app on our iPhone. Not a big deal and pretty straight forward (minor glitches were able to be addressed). We first started out by downloading Masterpiece. This is a program that lets kids take a picture of something, renders it with red, tracing lines on the screen and then lets kids draw it out on paper.

This is an image of the Osmo iPhone Base from the app store. Kind of hard to describe but hopefully this picture makes a little more sense – you can see an image outlined in red on the screen on the camera…this is what kids will use to “trace” their drawing on paper in front of the device.

Because the camera is on and “live”, as kids watch the screen, they see how the pencil moves on the paper. They can quickly learn how to “trace” the picture on the paper by following the lines on the screen.

Pretty cool!!

When our kiddo sat down to try Masterpiece, we first started with one of the default pictures that kids can try — in this case, a picture of an apple.

The red lines were clear on the screen and it was pretty easy for the kids to see.  Everything stood out.  Learning how to adapt to drawing on the paper while not watching the paper was a bit of a challenge for our daughter.  It definitely took a number of times before she got it down.

BUT – once she got the hang of it, voila!

Once she perfected the apple drawing, she was ready to try to take a picture of something and move on to a real world picture.

Basically, she wanted to get a bit fancier.  Perfect timing.  She received a new stuffed animal (Hank) and really wanted to do a Hank picture. Hank’s pretty cool so I agree.

So, she setup the Osmo iPhone base to take a picture of Hank (he’s the white little dog in this picture).
Initially, the red lines appeared too faint to draw or use. After making more adjustments, we figured out the key to getting the lines to show up properly was bright lighting in the room.  Also, we had to make sure there was sufficient contrast in the object versus the background.
As you can see, Hank has all white fur.

We initially tried taking the shots with the Osmo against a fairly white background…. not our smartest move.  Lastly, positioning to get the right level of detail is key — think Goldilocks — not too close, not too far… just right!

We also tried doing some live portraits. Again, lighting made things a bit tricky so you might have to experiment.

The Finished Product

Kiddo Take

Our kiddos seemed initially impressed (oh cool! An iPhone toy!)… However, the struggles with getting the lighting just right proved to be a frustration point. If we help her with the lighting and re-shoots (she’s ~8 yrs), then she’s more willing to play with it.

Since we first received the gift, it’s only come out a few times. The other complication is that her iPhone case must be removed for the red reflector clip to fit properly on the phone. Also not something she’s able to do on her own. Bottom line, while it was interesting for a day and challenged the artist in her, it’s not a toy we see her coming back to use.

Mom Take

It’s pretty darn cool! Our younger kids were really intrigued (<6yrs) and while the older kids (8-10 yrs) were excited to try, it’s not been something that they’ve really come back to or been asking to play. I think other games that are more interactive versus drawing could be a better draw (no pun intended) versus Masterpiece.

I do like the fact they are engaged and actively doing something with the iPhone versus the normal “zoning out” that can come with playing on a device.

Scientist Take

Osmo iPhone Base introduces a new way to leverage technology and we love the incorporation of art and creativity to the mix. We haven’t tried the Osmo coding games yet.  I do that could also be another unique way to expose kids to STEAM activities. The creative integration definitely keeps kids engages and you have to give Osmo credit for that!  I think the hands-on nature of the toy can also be useful for kids trying to learn different concepts in math, geometry or even English/reading.

What We Would/Should Have Done Differently

Buy different games (or additional games). 

I know that sounds strange.  The daughter who received this gift isn’t all that into art. She enjoys sitting down and making a picture.  However, she’s never the one clamoring for new markers and art supplies.

She IS into coding and tech toys. I do think if we had sprung for the coding game package (e.g. Coding Jam) she would have been more drawn in to the toy (note:  this is in the cards for a future review – will keep you updated!).

Conclusion: The Final Word on the Osmo Phone Base – It’s Worth a Look!

I think it will be important to steer your users towards games that spark their interest. Are they an artist? Masterpiece will be perfect! Into puzzles? Might be interested in Tangram. Right now, Osmo offers 10 different packages to choose from, so you should be able to find something that works!  This may be a toy that requires some initial assistance up front, but if you’re looking for something that will quell some of that tablet “zombie” state, then this is a great idea.