Backpacks are a series of physical components with a button knob that can be attached to Topobo Actives to modify the way a recorded motion plays back. For instance, by turning the knob on the Bigger/Smaller Backpack, you can make you recorded motion playback larger or smaller. Wave-like motions can be explored by attaching the Time Delay Backpack to the Queen, which will propagate a time delay through the creation's network. Faster/Slower Backpack can be used to speed up a creation's movements or explore resonance in some structures.
Other backpacks introduce sensors and feedback. Position Offset Backpack replaces the knob with light sensors, allowing users to build creatures that can navigate based on ambient light. Attaching structural components to the knob on any backpacks can make the creature behave differently when its shape changes, presenting a type of "physical conditional" feedback mechanism. Our intention is to expand Topobo's complexity and capabilities with an intuitive tangible interface that introduces sophisticated ideas about symbolic abstraction and control.
The Topobo Dock is a tangible sequencer that allows users to record several different motions, play them back in different orders and even nest recordings. Its shuttle and jog wheels allow people to change the velocity of the playback, and record these gestures into new tokens. The dock allows children to tell stories with Topobo creations: by introducing time-based control, children's creations can become performers in a child's story.
(Source: http://tangible.media.mit.edu/projects/topoboBackpacks/index.php)