About this project
In the media
"great for parents who want to stay connected and interact with junior....also this new technology is that it gives everyone (me, you, grandma) a platform where you can create your own story or game." — UrbanMoms
"With you on one tablet and your kids on another, Kiddology allows you to share an interactive reading experience over great distances." — Geek.com
"No longer ever alone but always together, Kiddology promotes parent and child co-play." —NS
What we've built so far
Kiddology initially started out as an app studio where we built four applications that are already available on the App Store. But we decided to pivot into our real-time story sharing application after seeing how ineffective apps were at keeping families together. Today our platform has four stories written, illustrated and accompanied with voice overs and interactive elements (soon to be launched). Kiddology has already been programmed to let kids pick the books or game we have in our kid friendly space, but we want to take the next step in adding the real-time video co-play features so parents and kids can be anywhere in the world and still read, play and learn together.
Stretching it out
$35k – Real-time video
Securely select a trusted network of family members that can read with your children through real-time interactivity from anywhere in the world.
$100k – Build your own games and books
Without knowing how to code, our publishing platform will allow mommies, daddies, artists and creatives alike to craft interactive learning books and games.
Encouraging parents to use Kiddology with their kids
How many times have you seen it? You notice that the table next to you at your local restaurant has a toddler who is definitely due for a nap; mommy or daddy gives child an iPad or smart phone to play with, and then goes back to their conversation. What is the likelihood that this goes on at home as well?
Children playing apps by themselves rarely helps them learn better. Children thrive on interaction. When parents use mobile devices with their kids they connect and grow together. It’s heartbreaking to see children using iPads by themselves with unhelpful gameplay. Technology should be used to help your children grow and learn, rather than just as a distraction. Kiddology does that, by focusing on bringing families back together with co-play.
No matter if in the same room or worlds apart Kiddology provides a real-time video connection that uses interactive books and games to bridge families together. Instead of children using tablets on their own, we want families to come back as a unit and encourage paired interactivity. Remember evenings and weekends spent playing board games with your parents? We are bringing this family get-together back, with a modern twist of technology and learning. Through parental involvement Kiddology means to be used together, never alone.
But Kiddology goes beyond being a learning platform. It gives mommies, daddies, illustrators, writers and artists of all kinds a place to publish games and books without knowing how to code. It’s quite simple: we love bringing families together and families love engaging with beneficial content, but we want it to be easy for everyone to craft useful content.
The platform
We managed to keep Kiddology simple in design but with beautiful illustrations and animations, both stylish and practical. We have kept everything straightforward behind the scenes and in the app to be the user friendliest children’s educational application ever.
Kiddology and Kiyoshi
Our brand mascot joins your children through the path of learning and experience. The central character in the books and games is our friendly energetic and enthusiastic yellow ball of fur that comes from a place of wanting to build a world that is safe, fun, accessible, and always useful.
The video component
Instead of having to fumble with video-conferencing and tangible books, Kiddology puts it all in one place. You select your trusted network, from which your child then picks the companion that’s available to read or play with in real-time anywhere in the world. A little video box lets communication happen but co-play is seen on both devices to help the family member encourage learning and help when needed while your child uses Kiddology. Your child never has to struggle by themselves to figure out something within the app, as grandma, grandpa or whomever trusted family member they are playing along with can provide a hint or help.
The experience of Kiddology goes beyond the app itself. It is the tablet application which says parents should use mobile devices with their kids, and allow friends or family members to be better connected with their loved ones.
The publishing platform
The Kiddology team is filled with creative artists. Their biggest problem always has been the lack of ability to publish their creations without knowing how to code. Kiddology bridges that gap by providing an easy-to-use web application that lets them do exactly that. We peer-review every creation to ensure it meets our standard of engaging educational content, but lets the creative network of the globe share their ideas like never before.
Stories
Perks we are offering
How we started
The story of Kiddology started more than two years ago. Initially as a game app studio we were creating apps like everyone else.
But the problem we saw, that affected us deeply, was that kids were using our games by themselves. So co-founder Jay Kapadia came up with an idea. What if the application forced parental involvement, always had an educational focus, but also let family members connect from anywhere in the world.
Kiddology was re-born with a new focus and game plan that started with creating Kiyoshi as the mascot to start the change in how families use tablet devices. Today we’ve created four stories and two educational games to be launched with the new and improved Kiddology; but we want to create so much more and build on the engagement levels in what we already offer.
The Team
Risks and challenges
The main challenge we are facing is keeping our team continuing to build the parental engagement component and real-time video module. Our ultimate goal is to make sure that Kiddology from the get-go is an experience like no other and we’ve been working hard to do so. We did our best at predicting estimates and timelines, but the common problem with app development is delays happen in the pursuit of excellence adding costs at the same time. We are however lucky enough to have some of the top talent in the nation working on our idea to bring all the risks down and deliver with perfect timing.
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Funding period
- (45 days)