Osmo hands-on learning games for iPad: how the system works
Osmo is a learning-game system in which children move physical pieces on a table while a tablet camera reads them. Tangible Play created it in 2013, and in January 2019 the edtech company Byju's announced the purchase of Osmo for $120 million.
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How Osmo turns a tablet into a tabletop game
The basic Osmo Play System holds an iPad, an iPhone or an Amazon Fire tablet in a base. A red reflector clipped over the front camera directs its view to the table, so the apps can recognize drawings and pieces placed there. A child sketches a line, arranges tiles or spells a word with letter tiles, and the result appears on screen. The suite covers drawing, literacy, physics puzzles, spatial reasoning and coding.
Three games launched by 2014: Newton, Tangram and Words. In Newton the player guides falling balls into target zones by drawing lines or placing objects in front of the screen. Words is a race against a character called Mo to finish word puzzles before he does, and there are no turns. Numbers, Masterpiece, Coding Awbie, Monster and Pizza Co. followed, each with its own characters.
Who made Osmo and what the 2019 sale involved
Tangible Play Inc., the company behind the Osmo brand, was founded in 2013 by the former Google engineers Pramod Sharma and Jerome Scholler. Their stated aim was to let children use technology without losing the value of hands-on play.
Fortune reported in January 2019 that Byju's, an edtech company based in India and founded in 2011 by the teacher Byju Raveendran, had acquired the Palo Alto startup for $120 million. It was Byju's first acquisition in the United States, meant to widen its reach abroad and to bring in much younger children. At the time Osmo had sold more than a million playsets in over 42 countries and was in use in more than 30,000 schools.
What is true today
The Osmo website is online and selling the system in November 2026. Its home page describes hands-on learning games for the iPad, for ages 3 to 10, and lists three starter kits: Little Genius for ages 3 to 5 (letters, shapes and early creativity), Genius for ages 6 to 10 (math, spelling and problem solving) and a Coding kit for ages 5 to 10. Every starter kit includes the Osmo base, and games can be added later. The page says the games work with an iPad or a Fire tablet that a family already owns, and that Osmo is used in more than 30,000 classrooms.
The older English-language address from 2019 now forwards to the current home page. The home page does not name an owner, so the 2019 sale remains the latest ownership fact confirmed here.
Frequently asked questions
What comes in an Osmo starter kit?
Every starter kit includes the Osmo base that holds the tablet, according to the Osmo home page. Games can be added as a child grows.
Which tablets work with Osmo?
The Osmo site says the system works with an iPad or a Fire tablet. The 2019 description of the Play System also named the iPhone as a supported device.
Who bought Osmo in 2019?
Byju's, the India-based edtech company, announced the acquisition of Osmo for $120 million in January 2019, as reported by Fortune.