Recently updated on June 27th, 2019 at 09:26 pm
Silas Adekunle, the founder and CEO of Reach Robotics, has developed the world’s first gaming robots called MekaMonsters, a multi-functional connected battle bots with augmented reality capabilities.
Adekunle was born and grew up in Nigeria before moving to the UK with his family when he was 11. He graduated from the University of the West of England, Bristol, with a first class degree in Robotics. He stated that he got the idea to build the robots while studying there, teaching maths and science in local schools on the university’s partnership scheme.
He noticed how unpopular science, technology was and how the students didn’t really like studying science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) subjects. Many school children didn’t plan on pursuing careers in these areas. So Silas decided to try and bring them on board by teaching robotics.
He said:
“Robotics ties in many aspects of STEM, and who doesn’t like robots?”
Silas Adekunle announced that his company will sell its gaming robots at Apple stores around the globe, the news outlet writes. Reach Robotics was created as an avenue to intertwine gaming with STEM education.
MekaMons has been on sale since November 16 for $299.95.
The line of robots — dubbed MekaMons — sold at the Apple stores allow customers to be hands-on with augmented reality. The robot figures can be controlled with smartphones and multiple players can use their robots to battle each other through its Bluetooth functionality. The STEM education aspect comes into play because users have the ability to control their robots with code commands through Apple’s Swift Playgrounds coding app.
Silas Adekunle spent four years developing the product and oversaw a team of robotics specialists, video game designers, and engineers to bring his vision to fruition. He raised nearly $7 million for his company. MekaMons are already available in Apple stores throughout the U.S., the UK, and online.
Silas Adekunle hopes that his products will leave a lasting mark on the gaming industry.
In his words:
“By fusing robotics, reality-bending technology and competitive play, we’re offering players a new twist on hardware and video games–a premium robotics product that’s easy to play but very difficult to master.”
