Dynamic App Programming Environment with Physical Object Interaction

1 . A system for interactive play with physical and virtual elements, comprising:

at least one physical manipulative;

a computing device comprising:

a display;

a user interface;

an identification module for identifying the at least one physical manipulative;

a communication module for communicating with a server;

a server comprising a database, said database comprising:

a listing of physical manipulatives;

for each physical manipulative, at least one descriptive attribute;

wherein the computing device is configured to:

identify the physical manipulative;

look up at least one descriptive attribute associated with the physical manipulative in the database;

display or modify an animation related to the at least one descriptive attribute on the display.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one physical manipulative is one of the following group: an animal figure, a cartoon character figure, a doll, an action figure, a vehicle.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one descriptive attribute is at least one of the following group: personality, habits, sounds, phrases, geographic origin, size, diet, spelling of a name, pronunciation of a name, at least one Internet link.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the identification module comprises at least one of the following: a camera, a NFC module, a QR reader, a bar code reader, a RF receiver, a sound detection device.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:

detect a motion pattern of the physical manipulative;

display or modify an animation relating to the motion pattern on the display.

6 . The system of claim 1 wherein the physical manipulative emits a sound, wherein the identification module is configured to detect the sound and to identify the physical manipulative based on the sound.

7 . The system of claim 6 wherein the physical manipulative emits the sound when at least one of the following actions is performed: the physical manipulative is squeezed, the physical manipulative is pressed, the physical manipulative is moved.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the action generates energy that is used to make the physical manipulative emit the sound.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:

detect an orientation of the physical manipulative;

display an animation relating to the orientation on the display.

10 . The system of claim 1 , comprising a first physical manipulative and a second physical manipulative, wherein the computing device is further configured to:

detect one of the following: the relative position of the two physical manipulatives, the absolute position of each physical manipulative, the orientation of each physical manipulative;

display an animation relating to the interaction between the first physical manipulative and the second physical manipulative.

11 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a sound input device;

wherein the computing device is further configured to:

detect a sound received by the sound input device;

look up the sound in the database;

determine the physical manipulative associated with the sound;

display an animation relating to the physical manipulative and to the sound.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:

detect a voice command received by the sound input device;

display an animation relating to the physical manipulative and the voice command.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the physical manipulative comprises a sound generating device, wherein the computing device is further configured to:

detect sounds emitted by the physical manipulative;

display an animation relating to the physical manipulative.

14 . A method of entertaining a child, comprising:

detecting the presence of at least one physical manipulative near a computing device;

identifying the at least one physical manipulative;

using the computing device to look up at least one descriptive attribute associated with the at least one physical manipulative;

using the computing device to display an animation relating to the at least one descriptive attribute.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

detecting a motion pattern of the physical manipulative near the computing device;

using the computing device to display an animation relating to the at least one descriptive attribute and the motion pattern.

16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

detecting the presence of a second physical manipulative near the computing device;

using the computing device to look up at least one second descriptive attribute associated with the second physical manipulative;

using the computing device to display an animation relating to the at least one descriptive attribute and the at least one second descriptive attribute.

17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

detecting a sound near the computing device;

using the computing device to look up a physical manipulative associated with the sound;

using the computing device to look up at least one descriptive attribute associated with the physical manipulative;

using the computing device to display an animation relating to the at least one descriptive attribute.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the sound is emitted by the physical manipulative.

19 . The method of claim 14 , where the at least one descriptive attribute is at least one of the following group: personality, habits, sounds, phrases, geographic origin, size, diet, spelling of a name, pronunciation of a name, link to the Internet.

20 . The method of claim 14 , where the at least one physical manipulative is at least one of the following group: an animal figure, a cartoon character figure, a doll, an action figure, a vehicle.

21 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the step of identifying the at least one physical manipulative is performed by at least one of the following: a QR reader, a bar code reader, a camera, a NFC reader, a RF receiver, a sound detection device.