Night Owl Studio

We are committed to provide interactive and interesting digital educational materials to communities and demographics that might not have the same access to that more privileged institutions aim to offer. Through the use of already established social media platforms allowing access to those with less frequent connectivity and that do not necessarily have high end mobile devices. We aim to achieve this by building Augmented Reality effects, games and resources that are accessible on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. The resources each have their own weblink which can be accessed through a scanned QR code on printed educational materials. The way this scales globally is that the effects are not only accessible through the QR code. Anyone around the word can access the effects through the same link or utilising the effect search function available on the same social media platforms users will be used to.

 We aim to create innovative and interactive digital learning materials the break down barriers to quality education while accommodating all types of learner bases. South Africa has very high rates of child poverty. In 2018, it was reported that 59% of children lived below the upper-bound poverty line.(http://www.childrencount.uct.a...). By building AR materials that leverage social media platforms we can provide resources to learners that don't have access to high end mobile devices or constant internet connectivity. Our current partners are in SA and the UK, but because the materials are based on social media platforms and are digital we do have the ability to scale globally. 

We aim to:

• Disrupt educational technologies, improve knowledge retention, and combat accessibility limitations. 
  

• Enhance memory retention, supporting school curriculum education.

• Support those who cannot typically reach these resources.

• Expand the scope of learning activities to greater numbers of students than was previously possible.

• We are introducing a more interactive and immersive experience that will make learning more fun and engaging.

• Increase engagement by students, and thereby increase completion rates on courses and programs, owing to the fun and interactive nature of the AR solution.

The AR effects can be printed on worksheets using a QR code as well as be found on Instagram by simply searching for the effects names and sharing the weblink. This means that although we are aiming to partner with an organisation in South Africa, the effects are not limited to South Africa because they live on a digital platform which is accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world with a mobile device. The other benefits to having digital educational materials include lower costs and increased sustainability. We are not spending additional money or resources to print or manufacture these accessible materials. Added benefits of building educational materials leveraging social media functionality is access to analytics and user demographic data to track the data created by the AR materials. Which traditional learning materials cannot. We are not aiming to develop new apps that learners and companies have to educate themselves with how to use, but rather provide materials within the framework of understanding they might already be used to.

When talking with the Two Oceans Aquarium Education Foundation to evaluate the problem we were trying to solve during the Global Young Innovators Programme and trying to create and distribute new educational materials, their CEO told us that the problems they are currently experiencing (including Covid-19 restrictions affecting people wanting to visit the aquarium which funds their education programme) is that they see a drop off of those interested in marine wildlife and the causes they stand for in the age demographics regarding to high school age groups beyond those who actively pursue marine studies. We aim to answer the question of whether putting materials that live on social media platforms can garner attention to the aquarium and its purposes and drive up interest in a demographic they seem to be missing. We can definitively answer this due to the fact that our AR resources live on Instagram. We have access to those analytics and can track how popular the effects are, what their reach is, and what demographic most captures the effects and post their interaction online from day to day. The analytics cover the data regarding the effects (opens, captures, shares, saves and impressions) as well as user analytics (gender, age group, and regional location).

When we talk about addressing overcoming the barriers in the education field it varies from company to company. Some learners lack  wifi network accessibility, some geographically live far away from the physical institutions currently in place and some may have physical or learning disabilities that affect their abilities to retain knowledge. We aim to talk and partner with varies companies to make sure we are solving the issues at hand that they each might be experiencing. We are initially looking to serve learners that are in their secondary, tertiary or tertiary adjacent learning phases. Current teenagers and the older are used to being in a world that utilises social media so regularly as well as the use of Augmented Reality. Prior to developing individual solutions we have multiple meetings with companies, as well as making sure we are allowed access to current platforms and materials they have in place so that aesthetically and utility wise we fit the mould that they have established that works for their learner base.  

The problems that we have noticed is a lack of innovation in the development of educational resources, educational resources being presumptuous in thinking that various institutions' learner bases all have the same level of accessibility and the fact that privileged schools and organisations have access to the more innovative resources creating a divide in learning experiences down a socio-economic and geographic accessibility lines. We aim to solve this by identifying these issues with established organisations and develop digital educational materials with a lack of internet connectivity, high end technology and a bootstrapped budget in mind.

We are in the growth stage as we are currently meeting with various educational institutions and testing our demo materials with their target learner audience. One example is how currently we are moving forward with building AR 3D models of ocean life for the Two Ocean's Educational Foundation based in Capetown where the teachers involved in the outreach (in terms of teaching poorer areas that cannot afford to make it to the Aquarium physically, as well as those geographically restricted) and foundational learning departments (ages 10 to 18 all together). The business model we are currently implementing in that area is allowing us to test and add AR materials to the processes and materials they already have, and should the implementation be deemed a success to renegotiate where we come on board as developers for the foundation in a contracted capacity.

We have seen AR and VR implemented in educational and training spaces (as shown with our competitor research and proof of concept) what we aim to do is make it move accessible breaking down barriers to education. By developing AR solutions focusing on inclusion and piggy backing off social media platforms, we are able to collect analytical data to track the reach of our materials while accommodating learners who have wifi connectivity or limited access to high end mobile devices that can download and implement AR functionality at high enough processing levels. Using the Augmented Reality functionality available on platforms like Instagram is extremely beneficial because our target audiences (predominantly teenagers) are well accustomed to using the platforms, not requiring them to download applications from app stores. In terms of having a greater impact, we have the analytical data to prove whether or not we are achieving the reach we aim to have and to what demographics. As the AR effects exist on social media platforms and therefore can be found through the social media's search functions or shared via a URL, materials implemented or aimed at a regional institution has the means to have global reach. Hopefully our efforts will drive a further conversation of how other edtech companies can innovate with all target markets and their various restrictions in mind.  

Currently our 3 published demo materials (the Seal 3D model, Shark 3D model and the African capital quiz game) have close to 6000 unique opens and usages (resulting in 7000 impressions in a few months). Personally I've worked in AR for a year and a half now, and with about 10 successful effects I've reached 30 million impressions over the duration of that time with no specific target audience or marketing plan. It equates to an average of 10 000 impressions a day, that sets a bar for replication from experience. With a targeted audience group and promotion of our materials with the partnered organisations I don't see why we can't aim to reach that same target within a year. Seeing how we can exponentially grow from that point onwards seems outlandish to speculate, but I think we forget just how large facebook and Instagram are. Having access to their user base and implementing ways to keep that same user base spending more time for whatever reason is exactly what keeps them afloat.   

Luckily when working with instagram and facebook we are allowed access to analytical data of each effect. So we have a metric to success in terms of if we are reaching our target demographic, how much time they spend with each effect and in turn to what degree they engage with each effect. Are they simply opening the link and closing the app or are they saving, sharing and repeatedly using the effects provided? Which I suppose in that sense we can answer the question not whether the materials are a success or a failure, in terms of "yes or no" but rather to what extent can we call the materials a success or failure? 

A joint venture between two companies (one from the UK and one from South Africa) formed, and initially funded by the Global Young Innovators Programme 2021. Aimed at being a for profit organisation catering to non-profit, charity and for-profit organisations.

Night Owl Studio comprises of 2 developers (Hannah Blair and Luke Draper) and a mentor/advisor (Nicola Weaver).

Hannah Blair: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ha...

Luke Draper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lu...

Nicola Weaver: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ni...

We are a cross national partnership with an international network and diverse insight to the problems we are trying to solve. 

We are guided by a mentor acknowledging that experience is priceless and to be advised going forward could prevent potential issues we would have otherwise been unaware of.

Hannah and I have the support of the Global Young Innovators Programme (created by Newable), that make sure we are kept in line in a business sense and that corporate structures are in place that we meet our scheduled deliverables.

We are new to the edtech space, but we are also utilising a new technology not regularly implemented in that same environment. It may seem like a different way to view the state of the industry, but this is a field where the market is not saturated there isn't an accepted industry norm of how AR should be implemented. We can take more risks with what we develop and make moves not fearing push back or overly harsh criticisms.  

Partnering with established organisations and institutions is the final way in which we aim to cover any gaps we have left in the business venture. Even though technology evolves extremely quickly, the education field is grounded in theory and trial and error of those before us, to ignore that would seem extremely naive. We don't pretend to know everything, but rather act as a studio with the skillset to create the tools others think will be successful.

We were a partnership formed with cross national values and implementation in mind. Although we are a small team, we have decided that the best way forward forward as a new found partnership as well as making sure we have the right partner/client basis around us is to partner with established organisations working within diverse communities and educational environments to make sure that we are problem solving in the right direction. It is far too easy to develop a solution that completely misses the pain points each educational organisation faces based on our own experiences and assumptions. Having a meeting with The Two Oceans Education Foundation showed us that online network access and geographic access to the aquarium was a pain point when educating children about marine life in their outreach program. While meeting with QClub revealed that they are angling towards making materials that accommodate children that are on the autism spectrum. While both organisations students are in the same age demographic, developing a successful solution requires us as developers to meet with educators that are on the ground and understand the needs of their learners. Basically, we go into the meetings with open minds and egos at the door trusting that the leaders in their various fields know what's best based on merit.

While we are a joint venture we still identify as a start up and the easiest way to gain credibility and traction in an emerging market is to partner with established institutions. To be recommended and ushered into rooms and meetings we wouldn't have been exposed through our own networks. To say that we have the backing of Solve would add a lot more weight and credibility to any other applications we decide to hand in as well as when meeting potential clients and partners for the first time. The larger the institutions we are able to work with the bigger their target audience they cater to will be able to experience our AR work. We've working now to gain traction in the edtech space and making immersive materials that cater to all audiences. 

As mentioned in prior answers, we acknowledge that we are new to the market as a JV and are trying to build up credibility and a network any way we can. We are both skilled enough developers to carry the workload but in a world where everyone has an idea for the next best thing having established connections and people that can vouch for our work will be something that sets us apart from other start ups, which is something money can't buy. We're already partnering and meeting with companies from all over the globe, and even though we're developing in a digital space (so access to the materials and to a certain degree distribution, is not a huge issue), we do have to consider what it means to develop for institutions in terms of dealing with legal aspects. This is something that we don't have much experience in dealing with until recently, added to this concern is the fact that Brexit just happened and what that means with dealing with European law is still a bit uncertain all round. 

At some stage we'd love to scale to a point where we can add AR/VR experiences to already established museums and galleries. There's a lot more room to be creative and push the limits of innovation where the physical objects AR can react with is a permanent install or supported by a major government or company. With Hannah being in the UK the immediate thought is to aim for a large gallery based in London, The Tate Modern. But I also know that closer to home in terms of where MIT is located there is the Boston Museum of Fine Art as well as the Boston Institute of contemporary art.

We are currently working on processes to allow accessible digital materials in various school landscapes within it's socio-economic restrictions. So we aim to make them low cost and requiring a low amount of physical resources and partnering with existing educational institutions. These are processes that we can implement in any educational system. We have existing code for quiz games and the implementation of 3D models which can be applied to various school subjects in some way, shape or form. The fact that we leverage the AR implementation of social media platforms like Instagram where the bulk of users are in their teenage years fits in with the prize's focus of student age demographic. If we win the prize, funding can go towards the research, development and implementation of learning resources without the worry of financial constraints. As we are developing with a new technology their is a lot of trial and error that can go into finding materials that best suit the companies and institutions we decide to partner with, and while some materials would be more successful than others the time put into developing each demo can't be regained.

We are currently working on processes to allow accessible digital materials in various school landscapes within it's socio-economic restrictions. So we aim to make them low cost and requiring a low amount of physical resources and partnering with existing educational institutions. These are processes that we can implement in any educational system. We have existing code for quiz games and the implementation of 3D models which can be applied to various school subjects in some way, shape or form. The fact that we leverage the AR implementation of social media platforms like Instagram where the bulk of users are in their teenage years fits in with the prize's focus of student age demographic. If we win the prize, funding can go towards the research, development and implementation of learning resources without the worry of financial constraints. As we are developing with a new technology their is a lot of trial and error that can go into finding materials that best suit the companies and institutions we decide to partner with, and while some materials would be more successful than others the time put into developing each demo can't be regained. 

We are currently working on processes to allow accessible digital materials in various school landscapes within it's socio-economic restrictions. So we aim to make them low cost and requiring a low amount of physical resources and partnering with existing educational institutions. These are processes that we can implement in any educational system. We have existing code for quiz games and the implementation of 3D models which can be applied to various school subjects in some way, shape or form. The fact that we leverage the AR implementation of social media platforms like Instagram where the bulk of users are in their teenage years fits in with the prize's focus of student age demographic. If we win the prize, funding can go towards the research, development and implementation of learning resources without the worry of financial constraints. As we are developing with a new technology their is a lot of trial and error that can go into finding materials that best suit the companies and institutions we decide to partner with, and while some materials would be more successful than others the time put into developing each demo can't be regained. 

We are currently working on processes to allow accessible digital materials in various school landscapes within it's socio-economic restrictions. So we aim to make them low cost and requiring a low amount of physical resources and partnering with existing educational institutions. These are processes that we can implement in any educational system. We have existing code for quiz games and the implementation of 3D models which can be applied to various school subjects in some way, shape or form. The fact that we leverage the AR implementation of social media platforms like Instagram where the bulk of users are in their teenage years fits in with the prize's focus of student age demographic. If we win the prize, funding can go towards the research, development and implementation of learning resources without the worry of financial constraints. As we are developing with a new technology their is a lot of trial and error that can go into finding materials that best suit the companies and institutions we decide to partner with, and while some materials would be more successful than others the time put into developing each demo can't be regained.