Indiegogo is committed to accessibility. If you have difficulty using our site, please contact support@indiegogo.com for assistance or view our accessibility notice by clicking here

This campaign is closed

Happy Atoms: Magnetic Molecular Modeling Set & App

Build, scan, and identify molecules: the simplest way to learn about atoms, bonding, and chemistry.

You may also be interested in

Closed
Closed
Closed
Closed
Closed

Happy Atoms: Magnetic Molecular Modeling Set & App

Happy Atoms: Magnetic Molecular Modeling Set & App

Happy Atoms: Magnetic Molecular Modeling Set & App

Happy Atoms: Magnetic Molecular Modeling Set & App

Happy Atoms: Magnetic Molecular Modeling Set & App

Build, scan, and identify molecules: the simplest way to learn about atoms, bonding, and chemistry.

Build, scan, and identify molecules: the simplest way to learn about atoms, bonding, and chemistry.

Build, scan, and identify molecules: the simplest way to learn about atoms, bonding, and chemistry.

Build, scan, and identify molecules: the simplest way to learn about atoms, bonding, and chemistry.

Ted McGuire
Ted McGuire
Ted McGuire
Ted McGuire
1 Campaign |
Providence, United States
$66,730 USD by 472 backers
$54,323 USD by 404 backers on Aug 28, 2016

 

Happy Atoms is a physical and digital teaching tool that lets you discover the world of molecules in an intuitive, hands-on way. 

Create molecules from plastic atom models that connect easily using magnets.
Discover the identities of the molecules you build by scanning them with the app.
Explore the molecules you discover, assemble collections of them, and complete guided chemistry tasks in the educational app.

     

     

     

    Atoms are the building blocks of our universe. Let's build it together! 

    The physical component of Happy Atoms is a set of atom models representing 16 different elements. With these atoms, you can assemble your own molecular models. 

     

     

    We can more deeply engage students in chemistry lessons by presenting atoms as physical building blocks.

     

    The atoms connect easily with magnets: metal tips on the ends of rubbery arms, which represent free electrons, snap onto magnetic bonding sites on the atom spheres, which represent empty spots for electrons in the atom's outermost electron shell.

    CREATE: Using the atoms, you can snap together thousands of different molecules. Because the atoms already have the correct number of free electrons and empty bonding sites, it is difficult to build a molecule that doesn't actually exist. Happy Atoms function like the building blocks of the universe!

     

     

     

    DISCOVER: The digital component takes this molecular modeling system to the next level. Using the Happy Atoms app and the camera on your tablet or smartphone running iOS (and Android with your help), you can scan the molecules you build. The app then uses state-of-the-art image recognition technology to identify the molecules. 

     

     

    See the device requirements for the app at the bottom of the page.

     

     

    EXPLORE: After a molecule is discovered, the app presents information about it, including its composition, systematic name, usage, properties, hazards, formula, and structure. The app can recognize up to 10,000 molecules. It presents in-depth information about 120 molecules and general information about the rest.

     

    The app is a fun and interactive chemistry curriculum. It takes you on guided quests to discover new molecules and learn about them. You can track your progress with the app, collecting sets of molecules that you have built and explored.

     

    Many people think of chemistry as complicated and hard to grasp. New technology now enables us to take this innovative approach to teaching chemistry and help make it tangible.

     

     

    Happy Atoms is geared toward students in middle school. Students as young as fourth graders (age 8-9) can use Happy Atoms to jumpstart their chemistry education. High school students can use the system to make chemistry more tangible and to reinforce their chemistry studies. Even college students can use Happy Atoms to help visualize complex molecules and refresh their chemistry knowledge. 

    Teachers at any level can use Happy Atoms as a helpful demonstration tool and teaching aid.

    Of course, adult hobby chemists, chemistry professionals, and any one interested in learning more about chemistry can also have valuable experiences with Happy Atoms.

     

     

     

    We created Happy Atoms to make chemistry fun, accessible, and memorable.

     

     

    Our goal is to give new generations a deeper understanding of chemistry so that they can make scientifically sound decisions, cure diseases, protect the environment, and improve people's lives in countless other ways.

     

     

    Everyone needs a basic understanding of chemistry, and some people need an expert level proficiency. But chemistry is hard to grasp. Atoms are too small for us to see with our eyes, making them mysterious. The language, symbols, and conventions used in chemistry are inaccessible and hard to comprehend. Many students are left with a lifelong feeling that chemistry is boring, hard, or scary.

     

    In schools, chemistry teachers do an amazing job making the complex and abstract world of chemistry accessible to kids. But the teaching tools available to chemistry teachers have not kept up with the times. Current chemistry teaching tools and methods can fail to capture students’ imaginations, discouraging experimentation and discovery. 

     

     

     

     

     

    THE APP

     

    The app will be available for iOS when the product first ships. See the specific device requirements at the bottom of the page. We are planning to support Android if the campaign reaches a stretch goal for Android support. Please back the project to help us develop the Android version!
    The app will be available only in the English language when the product first ships. Localization into other languages will be announced as a stretch goal.
     
     

    THE PHYSICAL PRODUCT

     

     

     

     

     

    Help us reimagine the chemistry set for today's world using today's technologies! Generations of scientists and engineers fell in love with science because of their childhood chemistry sets. The technologies available to us now make it possible to teach chemistry in an entirely new way, making it more intuitive, safe, easy, and relatable.

     

     

     

     

     

    Device Requirements for the App

    The Happy Atoms app requires a tablet or smartphone running iOS version 8 or newer (iOS 8 or 9).

    iPad: Supports iPad 2 or newer (iPad 2, 3, 4, Air, Air 2, Mini, Mini 2, Mini 3, Pro)

    iPhone: Supports iPhone 5 or newer (iPhone 5, 5s, 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus)

    We are planning to support iPod Touch 6th generation, but have not formally tested on it yet.

    The app is English-language only. Localization will be announced as a stretch goal.

    Android Support

    We are planning to support Android if the campaign reaches a stretch goal for Android support. Please back the project to help us develop the Android version! Because of variations in cameras between the massive number of Android devices on the market, some Android devices may not work optimally with the image recognition software.

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

      Schell Games and Thames & Kosmos have teamed up to make Happy Atoms a reality. Both companies bring superlative experience in their respective industries to Happy Atoms.

      Schell Games is a full-service game design and development company, which specializes in creating transformational games and innovative, interactive experiences. Founded in 2002 by world-class game designer and esteemed author Jesse Schell, we are one of the largest independent game studios in the country. The company crafts transformational games, or games that change people for the better. Not only do our games educate players and advocate for change, but they are fun! Our team of highly talented artists, programmers, producers, and game designers is adept at creating these transformative experiences for some of the world’s most respected companies. Projects in our vast portfolio include mobile, VR/AR, PC, online, console, hand-held, casual, and social games; interactive installations and theme park attractions; and connected toys and virtual worlds.

       

      Thames & Kosmos is a leading publisher of chemistry sets, science kits, board games, craft kits, and other educational toys. The company was founded in 2001 by a science museum director and her son, who saw the great need and demand for better science education materials — resources for parents and their children that are more engaging, more effective, more relevant, and more fun. Thames & Kosmos operates as the exclusive arm of its 194-year-old parent company, Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG — Kosmos for short — based in Stuttgart, Germany.

      Thames & Kosmos has published more than 300 unique science kits since 2001, ranging from small, single-experiment kits retailing for under $10 to huge, cutting-edge kits with hundreds of experiments retailing for over $100. Thames & Kosmos currently offers more than 140 kits containing thousands upon thousands of experiments and projects. Thames & Kosmos products are highly regarded by parents, teachers, and members of the toy and educational products industries.

       

       

      HAPPY ATOMS TEAM LEADERS

       

       

       

      Jesse Schell is the CEO of Schell Games, a team of one hundred people who strive to make the world’s greatest educational and transformational games, including Yale Medical's PlayForward: Elm City Stories, the Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood games, and Happy Atoms. Schell Games also creates pure entertainment content, such as the award-winning virtual reality game, I Expect You To Die, and the comedy space game Orion Trail. Jesse also serves as Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon University. Jesse has worked on a wide variety of innovative game and simulation projects for both entertainment and education, but he is best known for his acclaimed book The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses and for Beyond Facebook, a talk at the 2010 DICE Summit where he described a future where games and life become indistinguishable. He is a previous chair of the International Game Developers Association, and former Creative Director of the Disney Virtual Reality Studio.

       

      Ted McGuire is the president and cofounder of Thames & Kosmos. Ted was lucky enough to grow up in a science museum, crawling through exhibits and attending every nature walk, science class, museum overnight, and summer camp the museum had to offer. His mom, Jane Holdsworth, was a passionate science museum director and advocate for science and technology education, as well as the inspiration behind the Thames & Kosmos venture. While in high school, Ted began teaching the museum's summer camp programs. He also set up the museum's educational toy store, where his passion for science kits was born. After earning his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering/Product Design at Stanford University, he worked as a user interface designer for Adobe Systems, focusing mainly on Adobe Acrobat. Since 2001, Ted has been building Thames & Kosmos into one of the most trusted names in consumer science kits and toys. Primarily focused on Thames & Kosmos' product development, he has developed dozens of kits, tested countless science experiments, and put to excellent use all those years exploring his mom's science center.

       

      Andy Quartin is the CEO of Thames & Kosmos. Before joining Thames & Kosmos in 2013, Andy was a portfolio manager at Schottenfeld Associates, where he managed a portfolio of media, retail, technology, and diversified consumer products companies. Upon trying to explain what a hedge fund manager was to his son's kindergarten class during a parent career day, and getting blank stares from the students, he realized he wanted to contribute to the world in a different way. Subsequently he found Thames & Kosmos. Prior to being in the financial services sector, he was a cofounder and president of TUTM entertainment, a successful consumer products venture. Since joining Thames & Kosmos, Andy has immensely expanded its sales and distribution, raised awareness of the brand, improved the product line and operations in countless ways, and enhanced integration with the parent company, Kosmos.

       

       

       

       

      ADDITIONAL SUPPORT

       

       
      Happy Atoms is funded in part by a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
      Classroom viability and student learning outcome studies are being conducted by WestEd.

       

         

         

         

           

          We need your help to get Happy Atoms into kids' hands around the world.

           

          Happy Atoms is definitely being produced. We're already in final tooling! 

          We are doing this Indiegogo campaign to give you a chance to get Happy Atoms before everyone else, to help get it to the schools you care about the most, and to use stretch goals to make Happy Atoms even more amazing.

          We hope this Indiegogo campaign connects us with teachers who want to try Happy Atoms in their classrooms. We hope to develop a community of users who can help give feedback and make this product better.

          We hope this Indiegogo campaign helps spread the word about Happy Atoms.

          We have reached our funding goal and the first stretch goal! Thank you!

           

          Bond with us! 

          Help us build a community around Happy Atoms. Please share this campaign on social media. Use the links at the top of the page.

          If you have questions about Happy Atoms or ideas for the product, please share them with us!

           

           

           

           

          THANK YOU TO ALL THE BACKERS!

          Thank you to the students of Moses Brown School in Providence, RI, for letting us film you while you played with Happy Atoms and use the footage for our video, and Jon Gold for coordinating:

           

          Andrew Couto, Angela Navarro Cano, Autumn Jencks, Gabriel Timpson-Neill, Henry Lee, Jair Demarcus Meza, Jillian Paquette, Kade Tyrrell, Matthew Dean Jumes, Reka Moscarelli, Sadie Wilker, Santiago Najarro Cano, Shira Sitrin, William Andelman, William Malloy

          Thank you to the students of the Elizabeth Forward School District and their chemistry teacher, Kate Weibl.

          Happy Atoms is supported in part by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program contract ED-IES-15-C-0025 to Schell Games. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education. 

          Looking for more information? Check the project FAQ
          Need more information
          Let us know if you think this campaign contains prohibited content.

          Choose your Perk

          Complete Set
          featured

          Complete Set

          $159 USD
          Thousands of molecules at your finger tips. The 50-atom set includes these atoms: 14 H, 1 He, 2 Li, 2 Be, 6 C, 3 N, 6 O, 2 Fl, 1 Ne, 2 Na, 2 Mg, 2 Si, 2 P, 2 S, 2 Cl, and 1 Ar; the Happy Atoms app (free download), scanning mat, quickstart manual, and color-printed cardboard box.
          Estimated Shipping
          November 2016
          39 claimed
          Ships to United States of America, Canada
          Introductory Set

          Introductory Set

          $59 USD
          Let's bond! The 17-atom set includes these atoms: 8 H, 3 C, 2 N, 2 O, 1 Na, and 1 Cl; the Happy Atoms app (free download), scanning mat, quickstart manual, and color-printed cardboard box.
          Estimated Shipping
          November 2016
          23 claimed
          Ships to United States of America, Canada
          Educator's Bundle

          Educator's Bundle

          $799 USD
          Happy Atoms for the classroom! The 250-atom set includes these atoms: 70 Hydrogen, 5 Helium, 10 Lithium, 10 Beryllium, 30 Carbon, 15 Nitrogen, 30 Oxygen, 10 Fluorine, 5 Neon, 10 Sodium, 10 Magnesium, 10 Silicon, 10 Phosphorus, 10 Sulfur, 10 Chlorine, and 5 Argon; the Happy Atoms app (free download), 5 scanning mats, 5 quickstart manuals, and a durable plastic storage bin.
          Estimated Shipping
          November 2016
          5 claimed
          Ships to United States of America, Canada

          You may also be interested in

          Up Caret