Chris O'Shea (http://www.chrisoshea.org/) is a British designer in that space who did a fun little app recently called MakeGo which got great reception.
Keita Takahashi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keita_Takahashi), who comes from a video game background, did some interesting work on playgrounds (how to make a 21st century playground?)
Yes, this is something I'm quite passionate about :)
Oh I was kidding - kinda. We applied to do exactly this for YC W12 and we got an interview, but didn't get selected for funding. We've got decent traction and are continuing regardless. Focused on iOS for now, but with plans to extend to physical toys as we grow our user base. So far, so good.
I had this Toontastic App idea. It is platform which lets kids to become more imaginative and unleashes creativity. Many more apps should come like this for kids.
LaunchPad toys (http://launchpadtoys.com/) are doing some amazing things with the iPad.
Chris O'Shea (http://www.chrisoshea.org/) is a British designer in that space who did a fun little app recently called MakeGo which got great reception.
Cynthia Breazal's group at the MIT Media Lab did some mind blowing things with Tofulandia (http://robotic.media.mit.edu/projects/robots/tofulandia/tofu...).
Keita Takahashi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keita_Takahashi), who comes from a video game background, did some interesting work on playgrounds (how to make a 21st century playground?)
Yes, this is something I'm quite passionate about :)