Iris Solutions

Iris Solutions, a for-profit social venture based in Palestine. We specialize in sensory Edtech. Our mission is to improve people's lives through equitable sensory edutech solutions.

We believe that every individual should have the opportunity to realize their full potential, and we view technology as a tool that can facilitate and aid that. We design and equip sensory educational spaces, and we aim to make sensory edtech a standard in educational and therapeutic institutions. We do that by making access to this technology equitable and affordable through innovative solutions.

Social impact is our North star. Our work is driven by research, validation and testing. We start each day with za'atar and creativity to build solutions that enable, enrich, heal, and entertain.

For us, Iris is more than a technology company or an experience provider; it's an enabler. A supplier of wonder and hope. We build tools to get people forward, and help them find peace and growth.

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We believe every classroom and therapy space should have a sensory space in it. We are committed to leading the way to that.

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Allow me please to response as 1st person here:

I'm co-founder, product head, and managing director (CEO) of the Iris Solutions.

I have a background in computer engineering and management, and I have worked with several organizations conducting academic studies on our work, product validations and reviews, and leading the product design and user interactions focused sessions.

In my role, I am responsible for the overall strategy and direction of the organisation. I also work closely with the team to develop and launch new products, and to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our target audience.

Here are some of my key roles and responsibilities as managing director:

• Set the company's overall strategy and direction.
• Hands on products' development and content curation.
• Oversee the business development and internal processes.
• Ensure that we are meeting the needs of our users.
• Build and maintain organisation's team.
• Represent the organisation to the public.
• Manage risk and mitigate challenges.

I hold BSc in Computer Engineering, and MSc in Mangement, Information technology and Innovation from LSE. I lecture Social Entrepreneurship at Vilnius Business School, and on the Advisory board of Engineering faculty of An-Najah University.

The third and fourth quarters of 2023 will be devoted to the release of version 3.0 of our champion educational toolkit [sensoryREADY], which we're submitting the application for. This is the primary focus of the Team Lead and where the majority of the time is spent. 

In the event that we are awarded the project, we will also increase the contracting time of our research and content curator.

Finally, the senior staff has been briefed on the LEAP challenge and has been advised to devote two hours per week to the project and to attend a weekly meeting during its implementation.  

sensoryREADY: plug-and-play educational kit helping educators and parents to break barriers of communication with children and create a safe environment.

A sensory-enabled space is one in which children can feel at ease, relaxed, and supported. It is a safe haven for them to learn and grow without feeling overwhelmed or stressed.

Many pre-schools and primary schools lack safe and sensory-friendly environments. Children may find it difficult to learn and develop in a healthy and supportive environment as a result of this.

There are numerous reasons why children require safe and sensory-enabled environments. For starters, they provide a place for children to unwind and unwind. Children are constantly bombarded with sensory information, and they require a place to unwind and decompress. This much-needed relief can be provided by a safe and sensory-enabled environment.

Second, safe and sensory-rich environments help children focus and learn. Children are better able to pay attention and absorb new information when they are relaxed and at ease. As a result, many schools are now including sensory rooms in their classrooms. Sensory rooms are intended to provide a relaxing and calming environment conducive to learning.

Third, safe and sensory-rich environments encourage social interaction and collaboration. Children are more likely to interact with others and collaborate when they feel safe and supported. This is critical for their social and emotional growth.

Finally, safe and sensory-rich environments foster creativity and imagination. Children are more likely to come up with new ideas and solutions when they have a safe place to explore and experiment. This is critical for their cognitive growth.

On the other hand, sensory environments are expensive and require extensive installation. This limits it to well-established and well-funded institutions. The reason made such useful technology a luxury and inaccessible to a large number of people.

Current sensory solutions, on the other hand, are vertically focused, typically serving a single market segment. What works for younger children may not work for older children. What works for children with physical disabilities, for example, will not work for those with visual impairment.

We want to make the sensory environment equitable and accessible to everyone. Our goal is to make sensory environments a standard in all educational and therapeutic settings. 

sensoryREADY is a comprehensive educational toolkit. It enables teachers, therapists, parents, and/or children to control their surroundings. The user can set the mood within a space and create a more efficient learning environment by using lights, music, videos, and educational content. It is simple to set up in a classroom, therapy room, or living room. Currently, more than 20,000 children aged 3 to 12 benefit from sensoryREADY on a nearly daily basis.

Over the course of five years, the innovative and one-of-a-kind solution was developed through rigorous testing and validation studies. Its modular design allows it to adapt to a diverse range of children and usage scenarios, including neural-typical children, children with learning difficulties, and children with disabilities. Simultaneously, the system can be adjusted on the fly to accommodate different age groups.

The sensoryREADY hardware consists of a Receiver, Controller, and Lights. The receiver is a smart microcomputer that plugs into a display port, much like a Nintendo or Apple TV. The light units are colourful smart bulbs that connect to your home's table lamp or electricity socket. And the controller is a smartphone app. By connecting these elements, you can create a multi-sensory environment of colours, sounds, and visuals - with ease.

The solution is divided into two main experiences: Core and Educational experiences. Within the core, the user has control over sensory space, such as playing sea wave sounds, changing the light to sky-blue, and listening to soothing classical music. Or perhaps a more stimulating one: turning on the red light, playing rock music, and displaying a volcano eruption scene! Using this, the operator can change the space to easily capture the child's attention and use the senses to achieve the desired educational outcome. 40 hours of music, 30 hours of videos, 90 sound effects, and 12 colour hues allow for an infinite number of personalised settings. 

The educational experience is a hands-on one. The solution is packed with edutainment content, as we call it. The content covers STEM, SEL, Arts & Language, and Physical activities themes (the latter will be available by the end of 2023). The operator interacts with the system via the Controller (tablet), and the result/exercise is displayed on the Receiver (TV or projector). This enables the content to be played individually, in pairs, or in groups. While introducing a new dimension of interactive educational content. 

Currently, the solution includes 25 games aimed primarily at pre-school age children. Some are designed to improve basic cognitive skills such as colour and shape recognition, and cause and effect. Others focus on academic and literary skills, such as basic arithmetic operations and alphabets. Another section of games focuses on emotions and wellbeing; for example, the Breath app, in which the screen displays a breathing circle that grows bigger and smaller while fading the lights in sync, assisting children in visualising and learning breathing patterns as a stress-relief activity. A children books library is also included. And we aim to have 100 educational games by end of 2024.

Since establishment, we've conducted both formal and information research and validation studies.

2015 extensive literature review of sensory integration field
6 months study by Lions Heart research centre, Vilnius, Lithuania 
Team of 6 experts: 2 PhDs, 2 social works, 2 therapists

2016 Focused group review
3 months, Red Crescent Society, Ramallah, Palestine
Usage 
Practitioners

2016 White paper - effectiveness of Sensory Box usage on children on the Spectrum of Autism
Joint study with An-Najah National University. The sessions were held with 13 children aged 5 to 12 years who were already enrolled in Reach Program, the NCI’s rehabilitation programme for children with autism. Seven children had been participating in the programme successfully for 18 months, and another group of six children had been participating for 6 months.

2021 - White paper - Effect of sensory environment on inclusive education in public schools
4 months study, 5 public schools. Pilot of inclusive education model.

2022 - MIT Solve - Equitable Classroom Solutions winner

2023 - Master thesis - efficacy of sensoryREADY in improving educational outcomes
4 months study. Birzeit University

2023 Published research - The Effectiveness of sensory environment on improving learning outcomes.
Ahliya Palestine University. 4 months study. Two PhDs
Published in Digital education and the future of educational technology - directions and creative solutions conference.

Stay up to date with latest research and knowledge in the field

We keep track of the most recent research and knowledge in the field to ensure that our solutions are always up-to-date and effective.

Continuous refinement and adjustment of the solutions

We continually improve our solutions by refining and adjusting them based on feedback from users and research.

Connecting with local community

We build relationships with local communities to better understand their needs and how our solutions can be tailored to meet those needs.

Making sure our solution is modular and aligned with variable educational goals

We make sure that our solution is modular and flexible so that it can be adapted to meet the variable educational goals of different schools and communities.

Improve internal staff expertise

We provide opportunities for our staff to develop their expertise and skills so that they can better support our users.

Increase solution's local adaptation

We work with local partners to adapt our solution to the specific needs of different communities.

FUN and Motivational

We view our organisation in teenagerhood stage at this stage. Every month, our user base grows a thousand. We expand into new geographical markets and offer our solutions to new sectors and user-base. What a rush! At the same time, it increases our responsibility to stay current on research, validate our work on a regular basis, obtain more external reviews, and implement internationally recognised educational frameworks.

It's essential at this stage, passing to maturity and global scale, to ensure that we are following research base and validation at every step.

(In priority)

1. Develop a teacher's user for sensoryREADY
(2 fellows)

2. Identify international early stage childhood and education standards to acquire.
(1 fellow)

3. Revamp and institutionalise our curriculum-based content
(1 fellow)

(In priority)

1. Develop a teacher's user for sensoryREADY (2 fellows)

A printed (and digital) manual provided to operators upon receipt of the sensoryREADY solution. It gives them an overview of the solution's philosophy and theoretical introductory background. Then walks them through the system's basic operations. As well as activities and exercises on how to apply the solution in various settings and scenarios.  

The manual would cover the solution's education variable, demonstrating how the solution can be tailored for different segments, sectors, age groups, and settings.

2. Identify international early stage childhood and education standards to acquire. (1 fellow)

A list of internationally recognised standards and frameworks that facilitate the distribution of the solution across global countries. Along with indications of complexity, timeline, requirement, and budget required to acquire.

3. Revamp and institutionalise our curriculum-based content (1 fellow)

Review our current content-tree and curriculum-oriented edutainment content (games categories). Revamp where its required, and suggest internationally recognised frameworks to follow. 

Currently, our content is divided into: STEM, SEL, Literacy, Arts, Social history, and Physical activities.

Teacher's guide

Every solution installation and training will include the manual (in both printed and digital format). It will also be distributed to all of our current users. The manual will also be made available online to viewers and potential users. We'll be posting snippets on the blog and social media.

We will continue to improve the teacher's manual, but this will be the beginning of documented material.

Education and early childhood standards

We will devote budget and resources to implementing and acquiring the standards. We will plan the rollout and adaptation plan based on the complexity and timeline, as well as the strategic plan.

Framework for curriculum-based content

We'll base our development strategy on the revamp and frameworks. The deliverables will be handled by the research and content curator, who will also be in contact with the participants throughout the programme. The framework will be translated into design standards by the content curator and product head.

Short-term

• Better usage of the solution, and higher value for operates and beneficiaries. 
• Align work towards more global and institutional framework.
• Increasing the quality of the solution. 
• Acquire new knowledge to organisation staff. 
• Enhance the quality of service offered in the served institutions. 
• Increase the number of partner organisations, users and beneficiaries.
• Fresh breeze of cooperation for the team!

Long-term

• Improve the quality of service offered in the sector.
• Encourage local and regional organisations to adapt international.
• Encourage service providers to improve their offers and include manuals.