On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2018. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Onome ↗
In their words
How about we throw in some emotions? When either eye is poked, let's have Pixel react — change emotion to something appropriate, like angry. Not many people like their eyes being poked.
How about a way to make up after you've sort of offended Pixel? Reset your emotion, reset your color, and then say: I forgive you.
Quick answers
Who is Onome Igharoro?
A co-founder of Robot Playtime, the Toronto company behind the Pixel robotics app. He appeared on the TechTO stage in March 2018 with co-founder Alex Hong and did the live programming in their demo. No current role is published here because none could be verified from a first-party source.
What did he build on stage?
Starting from the in-app block editor, he wrote the programmer's classic first program — Pixel saying hello world — then added an event: poke either of Pixel's eyes and it turns angry and red, plays an alarm and talks back. A second block reset its emotion and colour and had it say "I forgive you." The pair then showed a pre-built Lego EV3 robot driven by the phone, using an ultrasonic sensor to tell how far away a hand was.
How did he and Alex Hong meet?
According to Hong on the TechTO stage, the two were in the same University of Toronto master's program in robotics. A small project they built together drew requests from parents at maker festivals, and that demand is what turned it into a company.