App Info
Price: $1.99
Overview
AR-Kid: Space is an augmented reality tour of our solar system, designed to perfection for all audiences and any age group. The app uses your device’s camera to orient the viewer and shows him or her scenes from outer space. From creating a launchpad and rocket in your living room to seeing the Earth from the perspective of the moon, it creates an immersive experience that is both entertaining and educational.
Features include:
- Four chapters
- Great story flow and information
- Animated “guide”
- Immersive experience
- Very child-safe
Quality
AR-Kid: Space is a very high quality and well-designed app. Parents will need to start the app off for the first time because it requires permission to use the device’s camera that is configured in the settings section. At the start of each chapter, the user will need to perform a simple calibration action that young children may need assistance with. From there, the app controls what users see on the screen and displays a 360-degree view of the topic of the chapter. So in the chapter about being in orbit above the Earth, the device displays a picture of the Space Station when oriented correctly, but will display stars when looking the other way. Some of the user reviews note that they wished there was more content, since it’s so fascinating.
Education
This app certainly shows some of the capabilities of the devices and how to smoothly integrate them with learning. It’s simple enough for the very young, being completely narrated and requiring no reading, but immersive enough to interest older players.
The animated guide, “Cosmo,” does a good job of making the narration engaging and entertaining, yet informative. Users will learn a lot about space travel, the solar system, the moon, and the planets.
It does take about 15-20 minutes to go straight through the app. Its replay value will depend on how interested your child is in outer space and how he or she enjoys the augmented reality presentation.
Entertainment
AR-Kid: Space is highly entertaining. The augmented reality feature is very engaging, especially for young children. The combination of seeing the 360-degree views and hearing the sounds effects makes for a very immersive experience. The animated guide, “Cosmo,” gives very clear instructions and reminders, and players feel like they are actually going into outer space.
Value
This app costs $1.99 on the App Store, and this is a great value. There are four chapters that take users from blast off on Earth to the space station to the moon and finally to the solar system. Children will enjoy experimenting with the AR system by looking around at different angles and orientations to see what all is in the virtual environment. Younger players are likely to use the app over and over again. Older players may go through it in one sitting, but they will learn new concepts or have existing ideas clarified and reinforced.
Child Friendliness
AR-Kid: Space is very child-friendly. There are no in-app purchases, outside advertisements, or unprotected connections to the internet. The app includes a protected parent area that offers information about the app, the developers, and similar topics.
- NO in-app purchases
- NO social media
- NO 3rd party ads
- YES links to internet but behind a parent gates (birth year)
