In an effort to fuse the digital world and the real world, Disney has unveiled its new AppMATes line, a set of what Disney calls ‘Mobile Application Toys.’ The toys themselves are physical, real toy cars from Pixar’s Cars 2, but that’s only half the fun. Once you have the cars, you can download the free Cars 2 AppMates App on your iPad, which opens up a whole host of new activities for your kids’ new toys.
Each of the toy cars have special sensors on the bottom that are recognized by the app as a certain character from the movie. From there, your child can use the actual toy car to explore the virtual world, complete character-specific missions, and, of course, race around five different race tracks from the movie. Don’t worry, the cars won’t scratch up your iPad screen unless your kid presses down super hard with the toys, which admittedly might be something you need to look out for. The prospect of your iPad being used as a playmat is fairly going to raise some eyebrows, but as long as your child can rein in their enthusiasm, it should be a good time for everyone involved.
The AppMATes will be available on October 1st, and will be sold in packs of two cars for about $20 apiece. The tech that makes the app recognize the toys is pretty cool, and it looks like tons of fun for the kids. Above all else, it’s a great way to keep the fun of real world toys alive while the world becomes increasingly digitized. As long as parents can stomach the idea of their kids rolling their toys all over their beloved iPads, these cars look ready to race ahead of the pack this holiday season.
