<aside> <img src="/icons/graduate_purple.svg" alt="/icons/graduate_purple.svg" width="40px" /> In Spring 2024, I had the pleasure pitching an idea in my Interactive Product Design class at the Savannah College of Art and Design. and spending 10 weeks developing the product vision on a four-person team. I served as product manager and content design lead, with a focus on creating user-centric conversational design for a product centered in the utilization of large language models and haptic interactions.
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The most effective method of child language learning is early bilingual conversation in the home. These learners consistently develop native-like levels of comprehension, fluency, and confidence in their second language. However, the majority of children in the U.S. do not have access to these resources due to their home circumstances, their parent’s busy schedule, etc.
In this project, we aspired to create a children’s toy to support language learning in the home and empower young learners to see developing fluency in a language as an exciting adventure.
Wordwizard is an AI-powered language learning toy/tool that empowers young learners to engage in self-guided intuitive and imaginative play while learning more of their target language.
This toy, with a primary audience of 5-9 year olds, creates immersive experiences through audio-based storytelling that encourages children to get moving as they explore fantasy narratives based on their environment, all through the power of large language models.
<aside> <img src="/icons/exclamation-mark_purple.svg" alt="/icons/exclamation-mark_purple.svg" width="40px" /> Note: Although Wordwizard would ideally be a multilingual tool for a variety of language learner aspirations, our team chose to focus exclusively on Spanish for our 10-week work period—since 2/4 team members were fluent in Spanish and it is the second most spoken language in the United States.
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Wordwizard’s goal is to create endless cycles of learning through interactive stories where children become active participants in the narrative through scavenger hunts and story interaction.
The LLM gradually replaces key concepts with their target language equivalent, elevating the difficulty over time. The learner converses and explores with the wand to interact with real life objects in the target language to progress through the story—helping build their listening, recognition, and speaking skills all at once.
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The prototype of this project was developed with the use of Gemini and Google Lens, as Google Workspace’s LLM and image-recognition technology aligned with our needs and vision for the product.
Additional conversational design exploration was done in Microsoft Copilot.
In order to make the learning opportunities with LLMs, the tone of AI storytelling must be suitable and enjoyable for young learners. The generic AI voice is often dense and business-focused, and doesn’t include the intricacies of multilingual conversation—particularly switching between two languages in the same storytelling endeavor.
To curate a truly multilingual voice, I trained and keyword-empowered the AI with the style of kid-friendly adventure stories to create an endless loop of compelling stories to match our interactive design.
All language learners have a different story and path to their desired fluency level. Though adults use excellent tools such as the Common European Frame of Reference (CEFR), this isn’t necessarily the best way to assess a young learner as their vocabulary is inherently more limited.
Wordwizard can approximately identify the current skill level of the young learner without requiring any sort of burdensome, sit-down test experience based on their user data—it’s just another story!
Here is an overview of the three primary level types of Wordwizard:
A friendly introduction to a new language, empowering children’s curiosity and teaching them the fun of language learning in everyday life. This level features simple Spanish vocab incorporated into familiar English sentences.
The fairy is on the mesa. Can you find the mesa?
The most adaptable section, as children grow from beginners into intermediate fluency and beyond. This is best illustrated in the transition into full Spanish sentences structures to introduce young learners to the language more fully.
El hada está en la mesa. ¿La ves? ¡Punto a ella!
Finally, the third level moves from exact translations to problem solving skills—the different between ‘find the fairy on the table’ and ‘the fairy is on the furniture between the wall and the chair,’ which facilitates long-term learning opportunities.
El hada está en los muebles entre la pared y la silla. ¿Ves dónde está? ¡Punto a ella!
Limitless storytelling, wherever you are.
The wand’s object detection camera scans the learner’s environment to build a list of key terms, then uses our LLM to generate a story based on those terms and the learner’s skill level in the target language.
A tactile, movement-focused adventure.
Lights on the wand signify story progression and item identification, while haptic vibrations serve as helpful clues that hint the learner towards the next interactable object. It’s truly a fantastical adventure from word to word!