AN interactive toy that aims to bring autistic children and their parents closer together has been created by a Scottish student.

Passive Play, a cube with sides that light up when the child presses them, is linked to a phone app parents can use to see how their child plays with the cube.

It was created by Dundee University design student Tom Kirkman, 26, after he got interested in autism while watching a friend's son who has the condition.

Mr Kirkman said he hoped the cube would encourage a better understanding of autism and bring children and parents closer.

"It helps the parent to feel more involved and maybe less isolated from their child," he said. "Obviously autism affects how the children relate to other people so it's bridging that gap that the parent might feel better."

Mr Kirkman developed the cube as part of his honours project. There is one activity on each side of the cube including numbers, music and lights. A parent can also record their voice for one of the buttons.

As the child presses the buttons, information is sent to an app that allows the parent to find out what activities the child has been doing and keeps them up to date. The app also puts the activities in order, with the favourite activity at the top.

Mr Kirkman said he wanted to design a product that would make people think about autism. "I'm a father myself. My daughter is coming up for two and autism was something that I definitely worried about."

Although the cube is still just a conceptual idea, with one prototype built, Mr Kirkman hopes he will be able to develop it further. The cube goes on show at the Dundee University Degree Show from May 19 until 27.