Parent Guide
At Comfy™, we believe in challenging your child’s natural-born curiosity to fulfil his outmost potential, enabling him to develop new learning skills and selfconfidence through fun play. Comfy™ Pedagogical House (CPH)
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Dear Parents, We are happy to introduce to you the iCam - Comfy’s™ innovative and unique new interactive product based on motion detection. At Comfy™, it is our firm belief that a safe, supporting and challenging environment enables children to develop their own natural skills. Constructive play in a supporting environment that challenges the child and supports him in discovering solutions, encourages a love for learning while bolstering his confidence and self-esteem. Many children are fascinated by their parents’ computers, and the Comfy™ interactive products enable children to explore their surroundings and expand their capabilities in an environment specifically designed for them. Our new iCam has been specially designed and developed for little ones, and offers stimulating content that prompts the child’s knowledge in math, spelling and nature through active play. The game design allows children to experiment and to make new discoveries without fear of errors or failure, giving the child increased confidence in his abilities, and the possibility of using the product independently. We hope that you have many hours of fun with Comfy™ iCam. There is no limit to how much we can learn.
Table of Contents Explanation of the iCam parts What is the iCam all about? How to use the iCam The iCam Game Level Comfy™ 3C Developmental Cycle® Trouble Shooting Important Safety Information
The Comfy™ Family
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Explanation of the iCam Parts The iCam motion tracking abilities are achieved thanks to the included webcam and our patent protected software that allows a fun interactive learning in motion experience.
The “magic wand” controllers were designed to fit the child’s hand and to allow him to play, move, and learn with an intuitive fun artifact.
Let your child simulate a real driving experience. Your child can play a driving game while learning the traffic laws and how to drive safely.
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What is the iCam all about? The iCam game console system enables your child a fun learning in motion experience. With 10 active learning games your child can play and learn: Numbers, Spelling, Nature, Recycling, and much more. The iCam is specially designed for children between the ages 4-8. The iCam comes with two “magic wand” controllers, a steering wheel, a specially designed web-cam and our “Move and Groove” CD containing 10 learning in motion games. The game has three levels of difficulty enabling the child to progress at his own pace while coping with gradually increasing challenges.
How your child benefits from the iCam l l l l l l
Learns spelling by filling in the missing letter Exercises basic mathematic skills Learns how to sort different materials for recycling Practices sorting fruits and vegetables Enhances playing skills Learns about the traffic laws while playing
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How to use the iCam The iCam PC Camera communicates with the orange & yellow colors of your controllers. It is important that you position the controllers properly so the PC camera is able to “see� the controllers. Try to avoid having similar orange & yellow colors in the background.
System Requirements: CPU: Pentium III 933 MHz or higher RAM: 512 MB or higher OS: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/Win 7 CD ROM drive Available USB port HD-space: at least 200 MB Graphics Card: 32 MB or higher, DirectX 9.0 Recommended: Sound Card
Getting started Basic Operational Instructions 1. Connect the USB cable of the webcam to the computer, and place the webcam at a suitable location in the play area. 2. Insert the game CD into your CD drive. Follow the installation instructions displayed on the screen. 3. You are ready to play! Important note: Make sure that there are no similar colors like the orange and yellow controllers in the background of the play area.
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The iCam Game Level You can choose the most appropriate level for your child from the three levels offered to you when entering each game. With the increasing level of difficulty, the child is required to give exact responses and show persistence, coordinated and fast reactions. Every child has his or her own individual pace. It is recommended to start at the easy level and move to the normal and hard levels according to your child’s progress. The levels are different from game to game. Please find general guidance for each level below:
Easy- the game is not limited in time, it provides clues to help in gaining points. For example in the “spelling ace” game there are words that help to fill in the missing letters. Normal- the game is limited in time, and there are a few clues to help in gaining points. For example in the “fruits or vegetables” game the child must act quickly in order to sort the fruit or vegetables into the correct basket.
Hard- The game tasks are more complex and the child has to react even more quickly, for example the “Math wizard” game includes multiplication on top of simple math problems.
Math Wizard Bang on the character holding the answer to the math problem and choose the right answer.
Simon Says Push the virtual buttons with the classical “Simon Says” game.
The pictures are for demonstration only. Comfy reserves the right to change the games that come with the package.
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Spelling Ace Complete the correct spelling for the name of each animal.
Recycling Master Learn to recycle while throwing the trash into the correct bin: metal, plastic, paper or glass.
Fruits or Vegetables? Sort the fruit or vegetable into the appropriate basket.
Artist Impression Have fun painting each drawing.
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Puzzle Snap Practice your skill in assembling puzzles.
Melody Hero Practice your playing skills and learn how to play new melodies.
Young Driver-Neighborhood Tour Practice your driving skills and learn about the traffic laws.
Young Driver- World Tour Drive around the world, visit and learn about new sites.
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Introducing Comfy™ Pedagogical House (CPH) Comfy™ Pedagogical House (CPH) is the research and development arm of Comfy™, responsible for accumulating all knowledge and information, identifying latest trends in child-development and learning processes, in order to implement them into interactive fun-learning products. CPH activities include research and field-testing, involving many experts from various fields, which together form the wide knowledge base for Comfy’s™ activities. CPH is the developer of Comfy’s™ unique 3C Developmental Cycle™ to encourage children's curiosity, while promoting and maximising effective learning.
Introducing Comfy 3C Developmental Cycle® The immediate effect that is seen when watching a child play with the Comfy™ system is the magic sparkle in his eyes lighting up his whole face. This is what we refer to as "Comfy's™ Magic Effect". This magical effect is created by the combination of Curiosity + Challenge + Confidence = 3C Developmental Cycle®
Curiosity Children are born with natural curiosity. At Comfy™, we expose young minds to a rich interactive environment in order to leverage their natural–born curiosity and take them through a journey of learning through play and exploration, enabling the development of new skills and thought-patterns.
Challenge By providing children with age-appropriate, rich and developmental content, we motivate and inspire them to utilise their capabilities to the fullest. Therefore, CPH has created a line of software for children aged 1-6 years old, developing motor skills, emotional intelligence, visual and spatial perception, creative thinking, vocabulary, languages and much more.
Confidence Comfy's™ products develop self-confidence by enabling the child to play independently - being able to control the activities as an active participant rather than a passive one. Acquiring this sense of control improves the child’s confidence and self-esteem and is the base for building a stable personality as well as healthy relationships.
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Trouble Shooting If the webcam loses the tracking of the object please take the following steps: l Go to the main menu and start a new calibration. l Improve the lighting conditions of the play area. l Check if there are no similar colors to the controllers in the background of the play area- if there are then remove them. For additional instructions and troubleshooting tips, please visit our Customer Support section at www.comfyland.com.
Important Safety Information important safety information - Read the following warnings before you or your child play video games WARNING – Seizures Some people may have seizures or blackouts triggered by light flashes while watching TV or playing video games, even if they have never had a seizure before. Anyone who has had a seizure, loss of awareness, or other symptoms linked to an epileptic condition, should consult a doctor before playing a video game. Parents should watch when their children play video games. Stop playing and consult a doctor if you or your child have any of the following symptoms: Convulsions Eye or muscle twitching Loss of awareness Altered vision Involuntary movements Disorientation. To reduce the likelihood of a seizure: 1. Sit or stand as far from the screen as possible. 2. Play with the smallest available television screen. 3. Do not play if you are tired or need sleep. 4. Play in a well-lit room. 5. Take a 10 to 15 minute break every hour.
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C10205 GB R20
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