SBIR Phase I: Novel device to enhance the traditional paper book reading experience for young children

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the development of an innovative, screenless, interactive educational device for early childhood education. The project will bring to market a book-like device that delivers audio content when the pages are pressed, establishing the viability of delivering mixed-media interactive content in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics for children from kindergarten to second grade. By performing a scientific study of how children engage with content on the device relative to the same content in paper and tablet form, this project seeks to prove the benefits of alternative, screenless, interactive learning. The project leverages fundamental educational science. It also has the potential to improve public scientific literacy and engagement with science and technology in the United States while offering important health benefits by reducing screen addiction in young children. Excessive screen time has been linked to a range of negative health outcomes, including increased risk of obesity, decreased sleep quality, and impaired social and emotional development. The project has the potential to generate significant revenue by commercializing the device both directly to consumers and through partnerships with schools. This project will see the development of an innovative, screenless learning tool for young children, by seamlessly integrating technology into a traditional book format. The proposed platform consists of three major components: a book cover that houses swappable book inserts, embedded electronics that play audio in response to a page touch, and software that powers interactions and connectivity. A microcontroller recognizes an inserted paper book and offers a personalized interactive experience using content stored on the device. Button icons printed on the book pages line up precisely with a physical button grid embedded in the device, supporting learning activities. The success of this project requires the development of three hardware components and three software components that seamlessly work together in a connected ecosystem. The research and development team focuses on developing a workable device that can be brought to market and sold to customers, releasing an initial story-based content library, and conducting a user-testing study to learn about how children engage with the device relative to screen-based alternatives. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.