In December 2018, the UNICEF Innovation Fund on-boarded its largest round of portfolio investments of thirteen startup companies using frontier technology solutions to address complex challenges and create fairer opportunities for children and young people. Utopic Studio joins the VR/AR portfolio - these investments are part of the Funds work in the VR/AR space, to explore the use of the technology to solve real human problems and make it more accessible.

Utopic Studio combines the best of video games with recent research findings of childhood reading comprehension. The company aims to transform the way children read through a library of Virtual Reality (VR) games -- immersing children with interactive learning experiences.

Reading is an essential skill and it's important to motivate and engage children to read. However, most children prefer consuming content on their digital devices rather than print. This poses a challenge. To address this, we have developed a digital platform and use VR technology to make reading a new fascinating world that will also help teachers motivate their students a bit more. Additionally, the ability to track and evaluate children’s reading skills using VR technology is an innovative way to improve the reading abilities of children.

Reading is an essential skill and it's important to motivate and engage children to read. However, most children prefer consuming content on their digital devices rather than print. This poses a challenge. To address this, we have developed a digital platform and use VR technology to make reading a new fascinating world that will also help teachers motivate their students a bit more. Additionally, the ability to track and evaluate children’s reading skills using VR technology is an innovative way to improve the reading abilities of children.

ON BEING OPEN SOURCE 
 

Being an open source solution is going to fulfill our dream of opening VR technology to students from all over the world. In addition, it gives the possibility of customizing the games by changing the content and tailoring the games for each student’s skills.

TEAM & DIVERSITY
 

Our team is a mix of people with multiple skills and interests. Margarita has a PhD in Linguistics from Lancaster University. Pedro is an artist with a Master in Engineering in Virtual Reality and innovation from ENSAM Paris Tech. Gabriel is a computer scientist in machine learning and game developer. Carlos is an electrical engineer who is fascinated about open source and backend development. Our 3D artist, Claudio, is passionate about storytelling and Antonia oversees the business development.
 

On the contrary to the traditional educational system, we believe that no matter what you study, every skill and ability count. So, our company builds products and learning experiences inspired by a group of diverse people sharing each other's creativity for the benefit of children's learning.

WAY AHEAD
 

We believe VR creates valuable learning experiences for children in a fun and resourceful way. Utopic Studio will use the Innovation Fund investment to develop a strong methodology for diagnosing reading skills while leveraging the “fun” factor VR games offer. As we develop further our open source solution, we are also exploring how we can collaborate with UNICEF’s Innovation Fund VR cohort to create a Minecraft-like VR platform for educational purposes.

Having the opportunity for UNICEF to connect us to a larger cohort of VR problem solvers is exciting. We are looking forward to being part of this community!  

Join our conversations online. Follow us at @unicefinnovate

Photo Credits | Top & In Article:  © Utopic Studio