Design and development of a voice-based smart speaker application for young children

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RQDN Labs is a Toronto-based company that provides science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programming to children aged 4-10. Using a Montessori-school-inspired approach, their aim is to teach children digital skills that will prepare them for the future of work and digital innovation. While there are many STEM-based initiatives that exist in Canada, almost all of them involve a considerable amount of screen-time, which has shown to negatively affect child development. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this is an especially pressing issue as many families have been and continue to work from home to flatten the curve. In response, RQDN Labs and Centennial College's Wearable, Interactive and Mobile Technologies Access Centre in Health (WIMTACH) are partnering to design and prototype a voice-based smart speaker application that will deliver STEM-based content and activities. The outcome of the project is a functional and tested voice application Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that implements key lessons supporting the development of cognitive skills - such as problem solving, storytelling and vocabulary-building.