"Photon" - an interactive robot that helps children take their first steps into the world of new technologies
Project title
"Photon" - an interactive robot that helps children take their first steps into the world of new technologies
Name of Beneficiary/Beneficiaries
Photon Entertainment sp. z o.o., Xplorer Fund S.A. ASI
Name of programme
Smart Growth Operational Programme
Competition
Action 1.3.1. Support for R&D projects in the preseed phase by proof of concept funds - BRIdge Aalpha
Project value
PLN 275,000.00
Funding value
PLN 220 000.00
Project delivery period
Meet our team
See the result of our work
In 2015, Photon Entertainment successfully developed its flagship product, the Photon educational robot that teaches programming. The company has built an entire ecosystem of innovative educational products around it, which have been enriched by a portal for the teacher community and an academy with courses for teachers to support the development of their workbench and the implementation of modern standards in education. An innovation on a global scale is the educational kit - the Artificial Intelligence module.
Video
What problem does our project solve?
Insufficient supply of programming skills. In 2020, it is estimated that there will be 1.4 million newly created jobs for programmers and 400,000 IT graduates. A clear gap will then be created.
Lack of appropriate tools to foster the right moral attitudes and social in early child development. Photon, through the use of an intuitive device together with content and applications, perfectly introduces the world of new technologies to educational establishments.
Who is going to benefit from the project results?
The edtech market was worth USD 254.8 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 605.4 billion by 2027, according to the latest forecasts. Photon is a product for organisational institutions.
Which aspect of the project implementation have we found to be the most challenging?
Just creating a device - that children would want to use - was extremely difficult. At the same time, safety during use and faultlessness had to be ensured. This all translated into costs, long-term testing and generally a lot of time spent on preparing the right product. However, the creators believe it will be appreciated by teachers, who are increasingly aware and looking to tools such as Photon for their schools.
Our advice to other Applicants
It is worth conducting a really thorough analysis of the competitive environment and iterating with clients and experts. The analysis of the competitive environment carried out helped to identify Photon's significant advantages over competing solutions. This makes it possible to determine the key functionalities for the next phase of the project. The team not only analysed existing solutions on the market, but also tested many of them when working with children. In doing so, a number of important features emerged that could set Photon apart from the competition. In addition, consultations with manufacturing specialists allowed the initial development of production methods and cost optimisation. The prototypes created allowed the selection of materials and components from which the final product will be created. The prototypes resulting from the Proof of Principle phase were tested among children. This allowed weaknesses in the solution to be eliminated at a very early stage. The prototypes received a very promising response and a lot of interest from children as well as parents.