Interactive animation is the basis of a new mobile app from Durham startup Rubycube, which is targeting children with high-functioning autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other conditions.
Children using the app, called “storysmart,” see a series of interactive animated stories intended to help them develop social communication, social cognition, narrative, and critical thinking skills.
Two storysmart apps are now available for the Apple iPad at iTunes. Versions for Android devices are forthcoming.
The efforts of Rubycube Inc.’s co-founders Pete Minnelli and Jennifer Minnelli are driven in part from personal experience.
They are parents to a 10-year-old daughter who has high-functioning autism. Other apps exist for children with autism Rubycube aims to distinguish itself with an offering that targets higher functioning elementary school aged children who experience difficulty in mainstream social settings.
“In their efforts to place their daughter in the right educational setting, they’ve become keenly aware of the role technology plays in the assistance and education of children, particularly those with autism spectrum disorders,” Rubycube says on its website.
“While using an iPad at home over the past few years, they became frustrated with the lack of apps designed to assist kids with high-functioning autism like their daughter.”
Each of the six apps in the storysmart suite present a realistic story about children navigating their world – at home, at school, on vacation, as part of a team and involved in other group activities.
Says Rubycube: “These children have special gifts, talents, creative ideas and unusual perspectives to offer the world, and Pete and Jennifer truly believe that storysmar holds promise for them to learn critical social language skills that will help them function more happily, independently, and successfully in their communities.”
