ATmega32u4 helps enhance your child’s auditory skills

Designed by Federico Lameri, Toot is an educational system that enables young children between the ages of three and six to play around with sequences and strings of songs and words. The interactive tool incorporates auditory learning with physical manipulation to enhance their auditory, music and language skills.

The device, which is powered by an Arduino Leonardo (ATmega32u4), can wirelessly communicate with a smartphone application that allows the importing of sounds to the toy.

Eight small speakers are linked to one control unit aptly named “Mr. Toot.” Sounds can be recorded and replayed on each individual speaker, but when the devices are lined up, Mr. Toot is the only one that can initiate the sequence. Also, users can select a recording to be broken up into eight pieces, one for each speaker; then, the child must put the noises back in the right order, while Mr. Toot again confirms or denies the correct succession.

Furthermore, Toot is paired with a mobile application that offers various kinds of interactions and experiences for the youngsters, created with the help of musicians and educators from different areas of expertise.

“This product wants to be both a normal in-house toy and an educational instrument that can be used inside schools such as the Montessori,” Lameri notes.