Kabuni

The evolution of 2D - 3D TECHNOLOGY  is set to have far deeper psychological and emotional impact on humans than we’ve ever seen before.

The Metaverse brings access to new levels of experiences and information in a 360 virtual environment. 

This 3D internet environment brings with it much deeper emotional and psychological impact, especially for younger, still developing human beings - a generation that by their very nature, will be one of the biggest consumer adopters and users of the Metaverse. 

Early ADOPTERS 

Children inherently adopt/accept new technology first and whether we like it or not, they will be in the Metaverse before we know it, if not already. 

Currently, children are entering the Metaverse unsupervised and are being exposed to experiences way before their level of maturity. 

Would you leave your / a child to play in a playground where you don't know who they will be interacting with?

SAFETY 

Without proper rules, safety structures and constraints for what kids experience in the 3D world, the Metaverse could pose more harm than good. 

The parts of this nascent technology that currently exist are in environments that prioritises anonymity over accountability =  encouraging irresponsible behaviour that breaks children down vs building them up (current social and virtual environments).

The question educators, parents, family and carers are asking: 

• Is the Metaverse safe? 

• How do we know what our kids are doing when they are in it? 

• Who are they interacting with?

• What content and places do they have access to? 

• What are the long-term physiological and psychological effects on younger, still developing minds? 

Unless communities (governments, stakeholder, educators, schools, parents, caregivers etc) are involved in the shaping, introduction and shepherding of the Metaverse for our children - we are going see significant damage to young minds.

If communities don’t come together to put in place the necessary safety measures and structures for the Metaverse, we are going to have a repeat of the 2D internet mistakes. 

Mistakes, that have caused significant damage to a young generation in terms of mental health (depression, suicide, social skills etc).

The Metaverse has the power to be equally as destructive as it has to be good - IF it is not developed and managed properly.

Contributing to existing technology and systems that are all-consuming and depleting our physical lives - where we feel detached and disembodied in a physical world - means:

• The creation of damaged, impressionable young minds that turn into a generation that are  emotionally dwarfed 

• Kids going into the workforce/world where they are not set up to thrive 

• Kids and young adults that are unproductive in relationships

• Decreased fidelity in relationships

• Adults who think they can do whatever they want 

• A future generation that has no boundaries / doesn't respect boundaries  / structures 

• Kids and young adults that start to think the Metaverse is the ‘Real World’  

• A generation that is unable to distinguish the lines between virtual and physical 

• A dystopian future 

We believe the Metaverse should be SAFE and secure for children as well as adults. 

We believe in a Metaverse that can transform children’s lives for the better. That allows them to explore, learn and grow.  

We believe that every child in the world should have safe access to the possibilities that the Metaverse brings to education, daily learning and childhood growth - possibilities that improve their mental and physical health and well being. 

This is most optimally achieved by gently introducing the Metaverse to impressionable minds early in their development. Within communities that are safe. Communities such as schools, learning programs, and, at home. 

Kabuni is creating a new category in the digital market that is SAFE and that provides the most magical playground for children to explore, learn and grow. 

Backed by solid research, science, data and evidence-based methodologies.

Safe communities that are carefully controlled and managed within progressive law, protocol and policy and administered through the education system (schools) and parents (at home).

Experiences that are enjoyed through cutting-edge content and immersive learning  interactions that are collaboratively designed and built together with the people that will engage with it and integrate into their lives. 

Learning that CHILDREN CHOOSE. Learning that is FUN and ENGAGING and that makes them want to BETTER THEMSELVES on a daily basis. 

Kabuni is working with educators,  parents and children around the world to shape a safe Metaverse for children aged 8-16 within which they retain more of what they learn, are more engaged in learning experiences, learn faster and emerge healthier and happier. 

All within a safe environment that adopts new, more responsible policies and protocols within a fully immersive 3D world - defining a new standard for healthy and growth-led interactions between human beings and technology, and within that, between human beings within technology. 

A Metaverse that is set to exponentially change the world that children live in, leaving them in a better mental, emotional and physical place than the 2D internet provided. It’s a new era that brings with it new opportunity and possibilities for more productive and better citizens of the future. 

Citizens that go on to create healthier and happier communities around them.  

A Metaverse that has the potential to magically transform learning and support the growth of a future generation that can truly drive groundbreaking progress across the world.

Progress that unlocks the design potential in every child, and elevates life.

MMERSIVE LEARNING FOR KIDS AGED 8-16

• A magical playground for children to explore, learn and grow

• They retain more of what they learn

• Are more engaged in learning experiences

• Learn faster

• Emerge healthier and happier

A SAFE METAVERSE FOR KIDS 

1. Safe Metaverse ID creation: Kids onboarded via registered school email address, followed by two factor authentication

2. Unique digital ID: Generated and stored on the blockchain

3. Unique digital avatar of the child: Removes  risk of child's personal data being exposed

4. Kabuni Coins: Issued, only once stringent identification and registration is complete 

5. Real time monitoring:

• Early-warning risk intelligence against dangerous digital chatter 

• Admin portal control and monitoring of all transactions taking place in the Metaverse 

Kabuni will provide a range of immersive learning with selected pilot schools (total of 8,000 students) engaging with the current education curriculum which will be adapted to be unique, specific and targeted immersive experiences to elevate key areas of learning.  The purpose of the study is to generate research-based evidence to further validate the role of immersive experiences within education.  We have partnered with University of Birmingham to conduct the academic process.

Pilot School Program 

2022-2023 (currently underway)

 
Kabuni has initiated a Global Research Study, led by Nina Jane Patel and Human Factors Specialist, Professor Robert Stone, in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, The University of Brunel and The University of Reading to validate the role of IVT in terms of retention, speed, engagement, and wellbeing. The study, which is the first of its kind including schools in England, Switzerland, France. Kabuni will be integrated into existing education systems, to generate a benchmark to demonstrate how technology can enhance education around the world.
 

12 schools 

UK

• 1 State funded primary school (mixed)
• 1 Independent primary school (mixed)
• 1 Independent primary school (all girls)
• 2 State funded secondary schools (mixed)
• 1 Independent secondary school (mixed) 

France

• 1 Secondary school

Switzerland

• 1 Independent primary
• 1 Independent secondary

Dominican Republic

• 1 State School, All Years (mixed)
• 1 Independent school, all years (mixed)

South Africa

• 1 State school, All Years (mixed)

Research and innovation for the integration of Metaverse technology into the classroom.  This research proposes to investigate the role that Immersive Virtual Technology (IVT) can play in conditions of teaching, intentional instruction and some of the challenges that may inhibit children’s use of educational IVT and thus the expected learning outcomes, and the potential ways in which educators, parents, and the IVT community can build technology solutions for the future. Ultimately, educational VR should be complemented with contextualizing materials to reach IVT’s potential as an innovative learning tool.  Educators, as the delivery mechanism for education across England, need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to provide well designed lessons that integrate the technology for students in order to better prepare them for the future.  

Identifying the urgent need to design a safe Metaverse for children to engage with Immersive Virtual Technology (IVT) within an evidence based methodology and understanding of the technology is paramount.  Additionally, employing effective IVT with the classroom for children’s education poses logistic, technological, and social challenges for the educators. Existing research highly recommends further research to demonstrate methods for educators to harness the power of IVT and must be complemented with contextualizing materials in the classroom. Currently, there are no studies that show the methodology for which educators (primary, secondary) are integrating IVT technology effectively into lessons.  It is imperative that to reach the full potential of the technology that an evidence based methodology, generated from science and data, is identified in order to ensure safe, creative and impactful pathways for educators, students and caregivers to access IVT.

Kabuni will provide a  range of immersive learning with selected pilot schools, engaging with the current education curriculum which will be adapted to be unique, specific and targeted immersive experiences to elevate key areas of learning.

HOW IT CHANGES THE WORLD 

Kabuni is on a mission to unlock the design potential in every child, and elevate life.  

We are working on a solution to support children in the future as we integrate technology into our lives in capacities we have not yet encountered. 

We know we cannot do this siloed from others who are working in alignment with our vision, mission and values.

The idea of understanding human nature in relation to work has been around for a long time. In 1857, Jastrzebowski (1857) first coined the term ergonomics, referring to worker productivity in labor, entertainment, reasoning, and dedication. More contemporarily, ergonomics was reintroduced in the 1970s by Murrell (Edholm and Murrell, 1973) to mean understanding human-system interactions to optimize human well-being and system performance. Ergonomics then took on many different forms and specialties including cognitive ergonomics that encompasses usability, human-computer interaction (HCI), and user experience (UX) design. Some researchers viewed Ergonomics as focusing on negatively framed constructs such as pain prevention, particularly in the workplace. In order to look at the same human-technology interaction problem from a different perspective, a group of researchers created Hedonomics, the science and design devoted to the promotion of pleasurable human-technology interaction (Helander, 2002; Hancock et al., 2005). In the mid 1980s, the term User-Centered Design was first coined by Donald A. Norman's work in their lab (Norman and Draper, 1986). This concept focused on putting the user's needs and wants at the forefront of the product rather than trying to force the user to adapt their existing behaviors. User-Centered Design was soon adopted into many fields as a way to incorporate user feedback throughout the design process and not only at the evaluation phase as was originally used. Friedman and Kahn (1992) introduced Value-Sensitive Design—developing technology by making decisions based on implicit and explicit values, and that values of both designers and users should be accounted for. Value-Sensitive Design guidelines were eventually developed with an ethical values framework in mind (Friedman et al., 2006). Meanwhile, in the domain of computer science, Weiser and Brown (1996) were developing a framework for designing the interaction between technology and user that had the technology seamlessly integrated without constantly being at the center of attention—Calm Technology. At the same time, Affective Computing used both physiological and psychological theories and both computer science and HCI lenses to support the design of technology that recognizes, interprets, processes, and simulate human affect (Picard, 2010). The seeds of both Computer Science and HCI contributed to fields of Positive Computing and Persuasive Technology as well (discussed above). Two other fields that emerged from the domain of HCI are Somaesthetics (Schiphorst, 2009; Shusterman, 2012) and Anthropology-Based Computing (Brown, 2013). Somaesthetics grounds itself in human bodily experience and movement to inform design, particularly the aesthetics of interaction. This approach has been adopted by many designers of technologies that support positive human functioning (for example: Lee et al., 2014; Höök et al., 2015). Anthropology-Based Computing uses basic human behavior in our natural habitat as a basis of designing technological systems.

First, we aim to identify the design elements and interaction strategies that contribute to well-being and positive affective states. And, in this process, we unveil design nuances and note the obstacles users encounter in interacting with the particular XR technology, a term which includes virtual, augmented, and mixed realities. Second, we identify the input-output modalities of the system and the outcomes. Third, we present a framework for designing transformative experiences with immersive, interactive technologies whose goal is to elicit positive states and support positive human change. Fourth, we provide design considerations informed by the comparative analysis of the designs and a framework for future designs of positive interactive technologies with the goal of eliciting positive states and supporting positive change for children.

Virtual reality (VR) technologies create immersive virtual environments (IVEs) that simulate the actual world by tracking the movements of the user and responding with constantly updating

visual and audio feedback. These IVEs perceptually surround the user and block out the actual world, as users for instance wear a head mounted display1 (HMD; Bailenson, 2018; Blascovich et al., 2002).  

VR can be considered an innovative tool supporting children’s education, especially in times of a global pandemic that requires remote instruction. At the same time, employing VR for children’s education poses logistic, technological, and social challenges. 

Scholars commonly identify three different domains of learning: the cognitive (pertaining to knowledge and intellectual thinking), affective (making socioemotional judgments), and psychomotor (coordinating motor skills) domain (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001; Hoque, 2016). 

Experimental studies that assess the potential of VR to support children’s learning find that VR is more effective than other learning methods when it comes to psychomotor skills training or socioemotional learning. As for affective learning, the review of 24 studies that assess the use of VR in K-12 education by Queiroz and colleagues finds that students report higher affective learning gains, such as increases in self-confidence and learning satisfaction, when using VR as opposed to other learning methods. Another element of socioemotional learning is being able to understand the perspective of others, which has been extensively studied with adult participants using VR. Martingano et al.’s (2021) recent meta-analysis of 43 of these studies found that VR experiences increase emotional empathy by arousing compassionate feelings, but does not improve cognitive empathy in the sense of imagining others’ perspectives. 

Whether VR is more effective for children’s cognitive learning than other learning methods is still debated. Some studies show that VR generates higher learning gains than other media (Alhalabi, 2016; Rupp et al., 2019; Walshe & Driver, 2019), others indicate higher increases in learning for other media (Dede et al., 1997; Parong & Mayer, 2018) and some studies report no differences between conditions (Allcoat et al., 2021; Harrington et al., 2018; Makransky, et al., 2019). A possible explanation for these mixed effects of the efficacy of VR on cognitive conceptual learning is that the interactive VR experience may cause cognitive overload, thereby hampering the student’s ability to process information (Mayer, 2017; Moreno & Mayer, 2002; Parong & Mayer, 2018).

 VR can function as an innovative tool for socioemotional learning by (a) enhancing school materials and (b) sparking conversations about current affairs.  Furthermore, two main barriers obstruct children’s learning with VR; First, VR technology is gendered and may hinder the usage of both women and girls.  Second, educational content is hard to find and lacks contextualizing complementary materials. With regard to the first barrier, the authors argue that the gender issue should be addressed in order to make VR more accessible to all children. 

Ultimately, educational VR applications should be complemented with contextualizing materials to reach VR’s potential as an innovative learning tool. 

We have partnered with University of Birmingham, University of Reading and University of Brunel to deliver a robust and rigourous process to developing an evidenced based methodology for the integration and implementation of immersive technology into the classroom and into our homes.  Prioritizing safety and trust for the sake of our children's mental health.

Our stakeholders are 

• children
• educators
• parents//caregivers
• schools
• education policy makers

Our co-design process will allow for all stakeholders to contribute to the shaping of the future. Incorporating children, educators and parents into the design process and developing a mutual understanding of the metaverse.  Creating community in a digital environment, and virtual world.  

Harnessing the tools of WEB3.0

VR

AR

Blockchain

Cryptocurrency

AI

hardware

software

• Each of us / all of you
  • What culture do we want to design?
  • How will our culture make us feel?
  • What will our culture make us believe?

We will never compromise on the following for anyone or anything:

• Our goal is to build and maintain a diverse team in gender, skill and geography across all departments.
• We will always hire, measure and exit people based on our WHY and VALUES.
• Everyone is committed to building a company that will always design, build and scale products that will leave our citizens in a better place in the real world which can be measured through science and data.

• Kabuni Values

  Values + Action = Culture

  • LEAVE A LEGACY
    • It takes one bold decision to leave a legacy
  • WE CELEBRATE OUR SUCCESSES AND MISTAKES
    • Take stock of wins and losses and learn from them
  • HEALTH HAPPY PEOPLE
    • Work-life balance doesn't exist; it's work life integration that matters
  • CULTURE OF CURIOSITY
    • Always be curious - grounded in self-awareness with a growth mindset
  • RADICALLY TRANSPARENCY
    • Be honest even when it’s going to hurt
  • WE DON’T SELL, WE TELL A STORY

  We are not a company we are a movement

• Guiding principles / meaningful sentences

  • Words have meaning
  • Purpose driven people make better lives
  • Meaningful work; meaningful relationships
  • Thoughtful conversations; thoughtful disagreements
  • Execution focused culture;
  • Build Horizontal; Scale Vertical
  • Primacy of believability
  • Open minded and curious
  • Be humble; be considerate
  • Futures are hidden in daily routines
  • Avoid and challenge a by-standers attitude
  • Speak up; speak out
  • Go to where the truth leads
  • Get to know your blind spots
  • Share the things that are hardest to share
  • Problems compound exponentially
  • Don't lower the bar
  • Trust in Radical Honesty and Radical Transparency
  • Learn through harsh realities; create effective change
  • Courage and candour; always encouraged, always rewarded
  • It’s okay to make mistakes and unacceptable not to learn from them
  • Appreciate the similarities; respect the differences
  • Open candid feedback; continuous development
  • The same standards of behaviour apply to everyone
  • Embrace and maximise evolution

• Top of mind

  • Relax
  • We project how we feel
  • Communicate clearly and effectively
  • The narrower the funnel, the sharper the pencil
  • Insist on good quality execution; lead by example
  • Slower strokes, smoother movement, faster through the water
  • Intentional focus, careful planning and attention to detail
  • Be accountable, responsible and dependable to your work and colleagues
  • Always be mindful of what you do and the implications it has on your colleagues workload
  • Take time to understand what lies ahead; discover, assess, anticipate, then take action
  • Listen and assist; remind ourselves of the standards we expect from each other
  • Own your dependencies
  • Structure sets us free
  • Don’t assume****
  • Be dependable

• Communication

  For communication to be effective, the message must be understood, not just conveyed; effective communication must be:

  • Clear
    • Articulate & non ambiguous
  • Concise
    • Short and to the point
  • Focused
    • Concentrate and be intentional
  • Contextual
    • Provide all the relevant information; include the back-story of what it is that’s being communicated, if helpful and/or requested
  • Accurate
    • Every effort is made to reduce the risk of inaccuracies
    • Do not assume
  • Conclusive
    • Highlight next steps with relevant action items
    • Highlight the persons assigned with an @tag
  • Relevant
    • Only convey your communications to the relevant people
    • Keep it on point; avoid drift
  • Responsive
    • Prompt reply

• Out of sync
  • Getting out of sync is where something's spotted that's “below the line”, the bar’s been lowered in some way and needs to be resolved
  • Out of sync moments must be valued, treated seriously; realtime successful resolution is a must have; getting back into sync - preferably by call, voice to voice and discussed thoughtfully
  • New learnings and improvements to be agreed where needed and implemented - this can be documented as well if it’s ops related so it acts as a future reference point

LG NOVA PARTNERSHIP - START UP FUNDING FOR METAVERSE STRATEGY