Mattel teams with tech start-up Osmo for Hot Wheels Mind Racers

Posted on 4th October 2017 By Billy Langsworthy

Mattel has teamed up with tech start-up Osmo to launch Hot Wheels MindRacers, a toy which allows you to race physical Hot Wheels cars in virtual worlds.

MindRacers sees users rev up one of six physical Hot Wheels cars on the Osmo starting line, before setting them off up the physical ramp and into the digital world depicted on the screen of their tablet.

With the race in full swing, players can throw down physical game tokens to accelerate, slam into other cars and use power-ups.

“Hot Wheels created an iconic childhood toy by inspiring imaginations with healthy play centered on physical cars,” said Osmo CEO, Pramod Sharma.

“Now, we’re taking that beloved experience and blending it with the power of computer vision and AI to bring these cars to life.”

Mattel invested in Osmo last December, and MindRacers marks the results of the first product collaboration between the two firms.

Osmo is the first brand from Tangible Play, a company founded in 2013 by former Google engineers Pramod Sharma and Jerome Scholler, and the firm was named one of Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Education back in February.

Check out Hot Wheels MindRacers in action below: