
Jewelbots – A Friendship Bracelet You Can Code - le-mark
https://jewelbots.com/
======
rapsacnz
As a proud dad of 3 incredible girls, I am very glad this product exists. I
understand the argument that it would be great to not have gendered products
at all meaning kids could choose what they want without any outside influence.

Unfortunately, we don't live in that world yet (and it could be a while off)
In the meantime, I can now buy a product that:

1\. Encourages my girls to get into STEM. 2\. Is not a hard sell.

My girls are socialized to like girly stuff. I am only partly responsible for
this - the outside pressures and influences on my children are huge and very
hard to resist.

So you could argue that this product is a compromise, but it's one I'll gladly
make.

~~~
phalangion
Even without socialization, I'd bet some girls will still like girly stuff.

~~~
addicted
The problem isn’t that girls like “girly” stuff. The problem is that stuff is
defined as “girly”.

~~~
Double_a_92
That's because boys usually don't like it...? Or do you mean that "girly" is
seen as something negative?

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sudosteph
I want to be cynical because I hate the idea that a gadget has to have "jewel"
in the name and be a fancy "friendship bracelet" to appeal to girls. But it's
a neat little trinket that somebody worked hard on, and if it really was a
young woman who designed it to enjoy with their friends, I can't really hold
that against them. I don't think scaring away guys from it by saying it's "for
girls" is doing them any favors though.

Thinking back though, one gadget I remember being very appealing to kids of
both sexes was Tamagotchi. It would be cool if someone made a more
customizeable/programmable/less annoying version those in a wearable format.

~~~
sarajo
Hi! We talked to over 200 girls when making this product, rest assured that
every design decision was made with their feedback in mind.

Boys also love playing with Jewelbots, but there are already a lot of coding
toys aimed at boys!!! Our market primarily identifies as female, but we'll
broaden down the road.

~~~
sudosteph
I think this is where we disagree a little. I don't think most coding toys
actually are mostly aimed at boys. How would that even work? Do they require a
Y chromosome to operate or something? They're just marketed to boys (and
parents of boys), and parents and children alike buy in. The toy market today
is highly segregated in marketing to boys vs girls, and toys that were not
specifically "gendered" in the past are in the "Boys" section today (or
sometimes vice versa).

For example, I know that when I was a kid I _hated_ that any trip to McD's
included me awkwardly going up to the front counter to exchange for the "boy"
toys because I thought windup toys were more fun than dolls or pink bracelets
or whatever. My favorite toys were things like beyblades, zoids, k'nex you
know, things that I could build with and would move.

I was never not a girl for finding toys marketed to boys as more fun. I just
knew that the toys that were in the "boys" section were more stimulating to me
(and my sister felt the same too). I was lucky enough to have parents who
didn't care, but some do and it just creates a cycle where girls say they
prefer things that are targeted to girls (as opposed to the large number of
toys that are only marketed to boys), and market researchers see that success
and double-down, just making more stereotypically "girly" toys that sell to
that defined market segment instead of making more gender-neutral toys with
more inclusive ads (because they're afraid that advertising to girls will
scare off boys).

So that's my concern here. I'm glad that girls and boys alike love jewelbots
already, but do fear that explicitly saying that they are "for girls" will
implicitly give credence to the idea that other toys are "for boys". As
engineers we should not promote the idea that science toys without sparkles or
pink on them are for boys, it should just be for kids. It limits the range of
creative exploration available to girls who are trying to learn both science,
and who they are and what conforming to social pressure allows if you tell
them that they need to like girl oriented toys b/c everything else is for
boys.

~~~
sarajo
Far be it for me to be prescriptive about what girls and boys should like.
Truly, we think of ourselves as more "feminine" in design. Some boys like
things that are feminine, there are many people that identify as feminine.

We are here to change the number of coders that identify as female. In order
to do that, we talked to a lot (over 200!) of kids that identify as female and
built what they asked us to build.

You can read more about our reasoning here: [https://medium.com/jewelbots-
weblog/what-if-we-could-build-m...](https://medium.com/jewelbots-weblog/what-
if-we-could-build-movements-like-myspace-and-minecraft-but-on-
purpose-65cc8d9afeb3)

and my view on femininity here: [https://medium.com/thelist/papas-please-let-
your-babies-grow...](https://medium.com/thelist/papas-please-let-your-babies-
grow-up-to-be-princesses-7dc7c2ec7cd2)

Thank you for your feedback and thoughts, these conversations are super
important if we are going to change the number of women in computer science.

~~~
sudosteph
Thanks for sharing your reasoning. I can't say I'm on the same page when it
comes to femininity, though there's no reason to get into that here. I do see
where you're coming from and appreciate the time and effort you're putting
towards making it a reality. It is a pretty cool product to boot. If you ever
do a programmable digital pet, I'll be all over that.

~~~
sarajo
Thank you! I respect your opinion as well, it's great to hear it. We all have
our own version of feminism, and everyone is working towards similar goals.
Man, making the next Tamagotchi would be amazing, I wonder if anyone has
started?

~~~
sudosteph
Doooo iiitttt!!! :D

Imagine if it evolved differently based on how you programmed it and other
virtual pets you encountered.

Could be really fun, but I understand if you have too much on your plate as
is!

~~~
follower
FWIW a number of years ago I created a concept for a virtual pet toy that was
aimed at exploring alternate approaches which might encourage girls--who may
not have been previously interested--to learn to code and other computer
science related concepts (such as state machines).

One interesting aspect that GoldieBlox's research mentioned was that they
found girls became more engaged when there was a story with a purpose (e.g.
help this puppy) or opportunity for story-telling.

This made me wonder if there would be potential for combining an already
popular electronic toy concept (virtual pets) with a programming environment
that was also a story-telling environment. The behavior of the pet would be
determined by a state machine generated from the story.

For example:

    
    
        Hello my name is [Oinky].
        When I am [tired] I [sometimes] want to [play].
        When I am [hungry] I [always] want to [eat].
    

Then the state machine for the virtual pet could be generated from that. (And
associated graphical appearance, sounds etc.) Another appealing aspect of the
virtual pet form factor was that low-resolution pixel art was accessible (in
terms of skill required) and wouldn't look out of place. (I also believe
there's a lot of value in a tangible physical "thing" that people can carry &
show-off.)

I ended up getting a bit distracted by the more generic question of how to
produce a platform of enclosures & electronics that would enable people to
prototype hand-held Arduino-based devices. (And then other things.) But I
still think the idea is worth exploring.

Some online notes on these two projects:

* [http://www.labradoc.com/i/follower/p/project-pet-designer-to...](http://www.labradoc.com/i/follower/p/project-pet-designer-toy)

* [http://www.labradoc.com/i/follower/p/project-arduino-enclosu...](http://www.labradoc.com/i/follower/p/project-arduino-enclosure)

Offers of investment and/or consulting welcomed. :D

(With regard to a non-gendered Computer Science curriculum "Computer Science
Unplugged" might be of interest:
[http://csunplugged.org/](http://csunplugged.org/) )

------
pg_bot
Anyone who is active in the NYC JS scene knows Sara Chipps, the CEO of
Jewelbots. She has given a couple talks about what it takes to run a hardware
startup, and has been a wonderful member of the community. I only wish her and
co. the best of success with everything they have put together, the new
version looks great!

~~~
frankdenbow
She also started GirlDevelopIt and has been a staple in the NYC community for
a while. Happy to see her on here!

~~~
sarajo
<3!!

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jeswin
Congratulations on launch and I really, really want you guys to succeed.

However, the copy below is a little off-putting.

>Jewelbots patent pending bluetooth connection takes friendship to the next
level by responding to your besties whenever you are together.

a) What's the patentable invention here? If it's a programmable watch or
something like that, I'd be very scared. b) Your target audience should be
encouraged to share and experiment, which is the opposite of what the
currently broken patent system does.

I'm not complaining about the fact that you have patents as much as the
advertising that you hold them.

~~~
sarajo
Hi! Our patent covers the ability to communicate from wearable to wearable
using BLE. I hope that he fact that we're completely open source, from
hardware to firmware to software, encourages others to share.

As far as advertising, I get that. Feedback received. Thanks.

~~~
sidlls
That shouldn't be patentable. Bluetooth's entire purpose is to serve as a
means for devices to communicate.

~~~
DonHopkins
It's like patenting idea of using TCP/IP to send packets of data over a
computer network.

------
reconbot
I was able to get in on the kickstarter and while I'm far from the target
market I've found this a lot fun to play with. It's like an arduino with
decent bluetooth and a tiny form factor.

I know some people on the team, they're great. But I also have a long history
of working with microcontrollers in a semi educational setting
([http://nodebots.io](http://nodebots.io)) and these are by far the least
frustrating way to use wireless anything I've come across.

------
kemonocode
The idea by itself is pretty great, however I think the site could do better
at conveying what a Jewelbot can do. Apparently it has lights and vibration
and it can communicate wirelessly- what else? Would it be possible to use it
as a smart token / have it interact with other gadgets? Also, would you
consider designing a version with a little embedded LCD screen to go with the
programmable LEDs?

------
kdamken
Holy moly that website does a bad job of describing what they actually do.
Apparently you can program the lights and vibrations? I looked up a YouTube
video, apparently they can be programmed for notifications from your phone?

Marketing team really dropped the ball on this one.

~~~
sarajo
Thanks so much for your feedback! Sounds like we have some things to add to
the FAQ!

Jewelbots can be programmed just like an Arduino using C++. Real code! Because
we believe that kids are super smart (Also, I starting writing C++ at 11).

~~~
scrumper
My knee jerk reaction was pretty negative, but on only a few seconds’
reflection I think this is great. Absolutely no reason why kids can’t start
with C++; it doesn’t have to be template meta programming insanity from the
get-go. Motivated kids have infinite capacity for learning and a lot of time
for exploration.

Kudos for not patronizing them with some awful imitation of flow programming
or some neutered scripting language.

~~~
sarajo
Yeah, right? I don't think the drag -> drop coding does a lot of help when it
comes to learning.

Talking to my male peers, I learned that most of them started coding when they
were Tweens, largely because they wanted to make games or found an open source
project they loved. Jewelbots are designed to be the same for girls. So far so
good!

~~~
scrumper
Yup. There's a lot of stuff that tries to teach that 'programmer mindset';
flow programming is one end of it. My eldest daughter is 5 and is at the other
end: the 'Robot Turtles' board game. She likes it. I really don't know that it
will make the slightest difference in her future programming ability, which
will range anywhere from epsilon to a lot (and will have nothing to do with me
beyond me providing food, a roof, and moral support.)

Were she older, I would absolutely be making sure these got on her radar so I
could gauge her interest. Nothing so crass as _showing her_ of course.

I love the risk you're taking here: not only a hardware startup, but also one
where success is predicated on passing the cool filter of tween girls. There
is something delightfully subversive in marketing C++ programmable jewelry to
young girls; it's like a 'fuck you' to Lego Friends. I really want this to
succeed. Good luck.

------
shostack
On a related note, can anyone suggest sites with great educational/fun gifts
like this for girls?

~~~
jonbaer
I'd recommend the Adabox from Adafruit, it's a subscription service ...
[https://www.adafruit.com/adabox](https://www.adafruit.com/adabox)

------
tzakrajs
This reminds me of the badges at Queercon that are specifically made to
interact with each other via radios or physical connection.
[https://hackaday.com/2017/08/07/inside-this-years-
queercon-b...](https://hackaday.com/2017/08/07/inside-this-years-queercon-
badge/)

------
ChrisRR
There was a great episode on on Jewelbots on the Embedded.fm podcast which is
worth a listen. In fact the podcast is worth a listen in general

[http://embedded.fm/episodes/173](http://embedded.fm/episodes/173)

------
intrasight
I think it's: a. a very cool product b. a good strategy to get more girls
interested in CS

If my "girl" was still 13 she and her friends would want to have these.

------
daveguy
This would be a lot better if it was priced closer to cost. $70 is excessive
for an a few RGB LEDs, microcontroller and a buzz motor. These things can't
cost more than $10 to manufacture even at low scale. _You have to buy at least
2 for it to be interesting_ they should sell them for $20-$40 each. Maybe the
pricing will come down as they get orders.

Very cool concept though.

I hope they have some patents on it or they will be seriously undercut.

~~~
sarajo
We do have patents, thank goodness! Our manufacturing costs are no where near
$10, that would be amazing. We have a more advanced chipset than a Fitbit and
all the capabilities of an Apple Watch (without the screen). Jewelbots can
have 8 simultaneous central and peripheral relationships via bluetooth. We are
the only wearable device that talks to other wearable devices! (we are also
completely open source!)

~~~
tyingq
>all the capabilities of an Apple Watch

The site makes it appear as if your device is running a microcontroller, AVR
or similar. The Apple watch is a full on ARM processor running an operating
system.

But perhaps you meant something else by the statement? I'd be curious to know
what all is inside.

Edit: Poking around your github repos, it appears the device has a Nordic
nRF51822, basically an SoC with an Arm Cortex M0 microcontroller plus a
Bluetooth module.

------
BearGoesChirp
The biggest issues that would prevent me from getting something like this for
those in my family who wear bracelets is the lack of color customizing and
bulkiness of the bot. But I like the idea and I'm guessing both of these
issues will be worked on in the future.

------
qq66
My niece could really like this. She's really into "girly" stuff like
princesses and flouncy dresses. Something where she programs her jewelry will
be far more interesting to her than something where she programs a race car.

------
irrational
Well, I thought this would be the perfect Christmas gift for my 10 year old
daughter, but $99 is just too much (at least for my budget). This does seem to
be a great idea. Maybe they'll come out with a cheaper version at some point.

~~~
sarajo
Hi! If you want, you could use the code FACEBOOK for 25% off. I don't know if
that gets closer to your budget. If not, email me at sara[at]jewelbots.com.
Our goal is to get as many of these into little hands as possible.

------
bambax
Funny how the conversation seems to hover around gender. Who cares? I have
children of both genders (2 boys, 1 girl) and they really like the same
things. The girl is a little more outdoorsy and the boys like screens more, it
seems, but I don't esp. attribute that to gender, more to their personal
inclination. All three love roller skating, and cooking, and yelling, and
also, making houses with blankets and pillows.

Anyway, one point the FAQ doesn't seem to cover is how is this thing powered
and how long does a charge last? Can it beep and hum and do the things it
does, for at least a full day?

~~~
sarajo
Thanks for your feedback! Adding today.

------
jacobrobbins
my company shared an office with the Jewelbots team and I was very impressed
at the user testing they did. The bracelet is a great user-programmable
product for 8-14 year olds, which is really a difficult age group to design
for.

------
danra
CppCast episode:

[http://cppcast.com/2017/04/sara-chipps/](http://cppcast.com/2017/04/sara-
chipps/)

------
VohuMana
Wow, this is awesome! I wish I had these when I was a kid.

------
iceManChild
This sound like the idea laid out in the book _PopCo_
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PopCo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PopCo)).
It is a good read.

------
thebiglebrewski
Cool site and congrats to this team! Love the idea and the execution.

------
jmnicholson
Super admirable goal and super tough task. Kudos on the progress!

------
snarfy
You have got to get that price down. $69. You can get a 3G android smartwatch
phone for $65 [1].

[1] [https://www.gearbest.com/smart-watch-
phone/pp_507114.html](https://www.gearbest.com/smart-watch-
phone/pp_507114.html)

------
fmitchell0
this is great

------
misterHN
friendship bracelets are made, and the raw materials are strips of flexible
plastic

------
adamkaz
I'm all for making it more appealing for everyone to learn to code, but I was
torn over this product by a comment made by Sara Chipps on the Giant Robots
podcast ([http://giantrobots.fm/246](http://giantrobots.fm/246)).

One of the use cases she mentions is "...4 buzzes means the guy you like is
nearby...".

~~~
marktangotango
> Learn to code->it will help you get a guy.

I don't think I reasonable person would get this from the quote you posted.
Does it even appear in any of the material on the site? Or was it an off the
cuff example in an interview? Regardless, I'm unclear on why this is
offensive, can you elaborate?

~~~
adamkaz
I guess the simplification I drew may not apply to everyone (edited). The off
the cuff example given in the interview seemed to reinforce the idea that
middleschool girls should be worried about guys and that didn't seem very
empowering to me.

~~~
dguaraglia
I understand where you are coming from and I appreciate the thought, but - if
you think about it from a teenager's perspective - it's a very relatable
example. Teens will be teens, and they _will_ communicate about that kind of
stuff no matter what. If I had daughters, I'd be really proud if they
programmed their own little protocol rather than just sending paper notes back
and forth :)

