Gamified AR development for special needs children

The United Nations has defended the importance of education by defining it as “not only a right, but a passport to human development”. However there are millions of children out of schools, out of which “children with disabilities remain one of the most marginalised groups.”

The three major challenges faced by disabled children globally are the lack of trained educators, weak infrastructure, such as lack of schools and centres for intervention, and the economic burden for the cost of education. This hinders their growth, leaving them vulnerable and dependent on caretakers, who often suffer from burnout and economic problems due to the lack of resources and support.

According to some estimates, the cost of the education of a special needs child can be up to 10x more than an able-bodied child. In the developing world, these problems are exacerbated due to the lack of funding and economic burden.

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) reports that 22.1 percent of the government schools in Pakistan have children with disabilities. According to another estimate, there is only 1 psychologist and physiotherapist for 230,000 Pakistanis.According to unofficial estimates, Pakistan has over 1.5 million special needs individuals, and only 1,000 registered special schools, which only serve a small fraction of the affected population. Moreover, most schools are private and inaccessible for the majority of families. Added to this, the financial cost and struggle to find a physiotherapist and psychotherapist makes it difficult for parents of children with special needs to seek help. 

Further discrepancy exists because there is a lack of proper teaching methods for children with determination in government schools, as well as an acute shortage of trained professionals. Physiotherapy & education of children with special needs is painful & tiresome for the children and expensive for the parents when done privately. Moreover, in developing countries like Pakistan, there is a gap between the number of children with determination vs. the number of institutions and trained professionals (special educators, psychologists, physiotherapists).

Developed countries aren’t faring much better. In the US, there is a national shortage of special educators & almost half of all state schools do not have qualified teachers for children with special needs. The cost of raising a child with determination can be as much as 10x higher. A study showed that the “average total per pupil special education costs were approximately $7,800 in 1989-90 dollars, or about 2.3 times the cost of regular education, with costs ranging from under $1,000 per pupil for students with speech or language impairments to over $30,000 per pupil for those with deaf-blindness”

Simply put, WonderGames are gamified exercises using Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence technologies that focus on the development of children with special needs across four categories: Motor skills, cognitive skills, educational skills, and social-emotional capacity development.

Artificial Intelligence technology is used to capture the facial expressions and movement of the children, combines with Augmented Reality technology to create a smooth journey. Our solution does not require any hardware, unlike traditional techniques.

The four categories of development were identified in partnership with industry experts and partners such as The Lego Foundation, and encompass all areas of holistic development of children required to thrive in society.

Our games use Augmented Reality technology to infuse environmental cues while guiding children through movement-based exercises. The games are developed in line with industry-standard guidelines informed by experts and partners.. The gamification of developmental exercises employs elements such as rewards and badges, leaderboards, and levels to ensure motivation and engagement.

Human-centered design plays a significant role in the development of our products, employing a feedback loop where educators and parents are involved in both the ideation and development as well as testing phases to ensure maximum benefit and a smooth

The Chief Technical Officer of Wondertree, Usman, grew up observing the struggle of keeping up with rehabilitative services for his younger brother, who lives with cerebral palsy. Wondertree was conceived when Usman decided to apply his Computer Science degree to create a solution rooted in empathy. This means that we understand first-hand the core challenges faced by families of special needs children, and how to best serve them.

Over the years, at every step of the way, Wondertree has ensured the inclusion of the stakeholders of the community, such as parents and special educators, as well as certified physiotherapists and psychotherapists in the development of the game.

In the beginning stages of the company, I and my cofounder talked to hundreds of parents of such children about the challenges they face and their interest in our proposed solution, and we were overwhelmed with the responses of overjoyed parents who thanked us for working for the underserved community.

Our goal has always been to provide an accessible and affordable solution for our users. At several touchpoints during the development process, our team consults these stakeholders to inform both the design and interface as well as the user experience. We are proud of the fact that all our products are created in a collaborative manner with members of the community.

user experience.

Furthermore, our decision to process all machine learning locally ensures a seamless user experience but also addresses concerns about privacy and data security. Parents/guardians/teachers/therapist can feel confident knowing that their child's interactions with the games remain within their control and are not reliant on external servers or networks.

 Additionally, we provide real-time generated reports that offer insights into the child's progress and performance. These reports are easily accessible to parents, allowing them to track their child's development over time and make informed decisions about their learning and engagement strategies.

 Overall, our approach prioritizes accessibility, simplicity, and privacy, empowering parents to support their child's development effectively through our augmented reality games.

WonderTree presentation: 

https://wondertreeco-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/mwaqas_wondertree_co/EfKG8M8_yOJOqx2kHbI7DyYBxuMzqiEWP6NEAiNne2uKMg?e=L8GaSs 

Wondertree is aimed at all children with special needs including children with Autism, Cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, and neurodivergent children facing neurological or intellectual developmental issues.

80% of such children in Pakistan face difficulty or do not have any support system to provide medical and educational help to them. Parents of these children face economic and mental struggles to provide these facilities. Wondertree bridges the gap with its innovative, yet simple solution.

The solution is aimed at improving not only the skills of our target population, but also facilitating the families and educators involved in the lives of special needs children. Through a three-pronged approach of B2B, B2C, and B2G, we provide our solution to families, educational institutions, medical and rehabilitative organizations, as well as governmental and non-governmental entities involved in inclusive education. With our B2B solutions, we target educational institutions such as schools, hospitals, and NGOs working with children with special needs. Our goal is to equip educators and medical professionals with a tool to decrease time and resources spent on facilitating their students and patients requiring special attention.

The Chief Technical Officer of Wondertree, Usman, grew up observing the struggle of keeping up with rehabilitative services for his younger brother, who lives with cerebral palsy. Wondertree was conceived when Usman decided to apply his Computer Science degree to create a solution rooted in empathy. This means that we understand first-hand the core challenges faced by families of special needs children, and how to best serve them.

Over the years, at every step of the way, Wondertree has ensured the inclusion of the stakeholders of the community, such as parents and special educators, as well as certified physiotherapists and psychotherapists in the development of the game.

In the beginning stages of the company, I and my cofounder talked to hundreds of parents of such children about the challenges they face and their interest in our proposed solution, and we were overwhelmed with the responses of overjoyed parents who thanked us for working for the underserved community.

Our goal has always been to provide an accessible and affordable solution for our users. At several touchpoints during the development process, our team consults these stakeholders to inform both the design and interface as well as the user experience. We are proud of the fact that all our products are created in a collaborative manner with members of the community.

Wondertree has developed 6 different games focusing on alphabet recognition, development of fine motor skills, and enhancement of social-emotional development, to date serving more than 6000 users in more than 5 countries, namely Pakistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the USA and has a proven track record of success among users, some of which have reported up to 4 times improvement in skills after playing our games compared to conventional methods. 

We are currently operating in the UAE, the USA as well as Pakistan.We intend to become cashflow positive from one of our countries of operation, from the beginning of 2025.

We have been accredited by MADA (Qatar), we are also working with UNICEF and we are a part of Google's mentoring network and SDG accelerator.

Our dream is to make Wondertree the Google of special education and development. We believe that it has the potential to become the stepping stone for their holistic development of all children with special needs. Through the tailored capacity workshops in areas such as Sales and Marketing, we want to learn how to  increase our impact tenfold, if not more, to determine the right positioning strategy for market penetration.

The MIT Solve has the tools we can use to become a leading global organization Through the Solve program, we seek to connect with a network of knowledge workers and community stakeholders, uniquely positioned to provide knowledge of the community and inform our processes through identification of users’ needs.

We wish to connect with gamification experts and special educators who can provide professional guidance regarding the technical aspect of development

Through the funding, we want to expand our operations, and create more games to expand our product portfolio.

Traditional physiotherapy and educational solutions for special needs children are costly, inaccessible and often boring for the children, who often lose interest and fall behind on their goals. Wondertree has introduced a tech-enabled solution that has drastically decreased the cost of at-home rehabilitative and routine physiotherapy and learning for children with disabilities, by using emerging technologies combined with the elements of gamification.

Most current solutions require some form of hardware or specialized tools, but Wondertree games are made with the challenges of accessing such tools in mind. The games only require a laptop or TV screen, and an internet connection, and the games can be accessible through a web browser on all current browsers. Understanding that not all parents may be familiar with technology, we intentionally developed our solution to be as user-friendly as possible.

The gamification of therapeutic skills has resulted in increased engagement from users, and Wondertree’s approach to human-centered design and the simplicity of the product means the children and educators using our product can feel instant impact in the form of improved skills.

Wondertree’s games in traditional classrooms have allowed for an inclusive environment where children with special needs have a chance to participate at the same level as their peers and educators have a chance to connect with special learners on a deeper level as well.

The core technologies used in Wondertree’s games are Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence,  combined with traditional physiotherapy and learning techniques for children with special needs.

Our games utilize AI-powered body detection through the camera as an input, providing real-time feedback and acting as mirror therapy. This approach maintains the child's connection to reality while keeping sensory input manageable. 

By making our games accessible through a web browser, we eliminate the need for complex software installation processes. This simplifies the setup and ensures that parents can easily access the games without requiring technical expertise or assistance. They can simply open their web browser, navigate to our platform, and start engaging with the games immediately.

Our team consists of 8 people full-time, 3 contractual, and 2 part-time employees along with a rotating panel of physiotherapists that provide consultation and guidance.

Wondertree was established in 2016

Wondertree employs a fair employment policy. Our hiring strategy is focused on passion and skills, instead of educational background alone. regardless of gender, age, or religious beliefs. Our team is spread out throughout the country, with some employees working remotely, ensuring their ease of work. Separate prayer areas for men and women are designated to ensure comfort and ease.

A professional development program for individuals with special needs was launched last year, and our first customized internship was created for Mohammad, a boy working remotely from the UAE with the Wondertree team, to build games. At the end of the 4-month program, Mohammed was able to independently build basic games by himself.

Our goal is to expand the program in the coming years to create an inclusive platform for all such children, to increase their chances of an equal opportunity for employment.

Wondertree’s revenue is SaaS based, and a monthly subscription fee is charged for the complete games package. The pricing of the games varies geographically, according to the purchasing power of the consumers in the market segment. The pricing is calculated keeping affordability and accessibility in mind.

B2C customers are provided access to all Wondertree games available on our platform. B2B customers received additional features such as training and onboarding by our team, detailed reporting on the children’s progress, and updates to all new releases.

Our B2B clients often work as voluntary collaborators with our team, as part of brainstorming sessions to improve current games.

Wondertree is set to become cashflow positive in the UAE by the end of 2024, and by 2025 in Pakistan. In the UAE, we plan to onboard 5 B2B accounts by February 2025, and in Pakistan, our goal is to onboard 15 B2B accounts by June 2025. In the US, we have almost 200 B2C users, and we plan to acquire 300 more users by 

Currently, a majority of our funding is sourced from grants and other funding by grant awards and agencies, which include The Lego Foundation, UNICEF, Ignite - ICT R&D Funds, Spring Accelerator, and Cisco, however we are on our way to become financially sustainable through B2B and B2C subscriptions