Three app creators are shaping the future of education, fitness and health

EM: At Boddle, we understand that every child learns differently and at their own pace, so we use machine learning to adapt content to children’s levels and help identify learning gaps through fun and interactive gameplay. We also provide teachers with tools to support their students, giving them access to Kindergarten through Sixth grade assessments and videos in Maths and English, and a range of assessment and reporting tools.

JX: We noticed that in other fitness experiences, people who were faster or in better shape were often rewarded based on how fit they were, so others would be intimidated. Run Legends uses basic location, basic movement and accelerometer data on the Apple platform to detect how fast someone is moving and adapt the game accordingly. So if you want to play at a 20-minute walk pace or an eight-minute run pace, it’s all the same. There’s really no advantage to going faster or slower through our game. There are quite a few walkers who play the game and say that the game has made them switch from walking to moving faster and running.

Seeking support and mentorship

AND: The entrepreneur camp was amazing, I met so many like-minded entrepreneurs and became friends with them. I keep in touch with some of the cohort who are in similar fields. The campus is so beautifully designed, and learning Apple’s design principles in that environment was like a dream come true. We had design sessions with members of the Apple team who helped us understand how to position Wysa, and today we are one of the top-ranked apps in our space.

JX: When we attended Entrepreneur Camp, it was very early in Run Legends. We didn’t necessarily know what the game would look like. We were given the opportunity to speak with a design team that knew what they were doing on the App Store and would investigate our app in detail. One example was our onboarding experience – our rep said to us, “What happens if a player isn’t ready to run or go out?” You’d lose so many people if you didn’t provide an alternative experience that could be played indoors.” Because of that feedback, we changed our entire onboarding process and realized after launch that almost half of all players were using the alternative experience.

Building more comprehensive experiences

EM: Boddle is more than just a maths or English game. We are creating a metaverse for learning with different game experiences. If the kids like basketball, they can jump into a basketball game. If they like pets, they can check out our pet fighting game. The cool part is that they can choose what they want to play and their learning goes with them wherever they go in Boddle’s world. They are in charge of their own learning adventure, choosing what they want to do and learning along the way.

JX: In Run Legends, we use Spatial Audio so that when you turn your head, it sounds like the battle is actually happening around you. If you turn left, you might hear a monster growl at you, but if you turn right, you might hear your teammates cheering you on. You feel the touch as you power up your attack and as you sprint, and it feels like the battle is happening right there. This feeling drives people to exercise longer and harder. Gamers often tell us that they’ve done the fastest walk or run of their life through it, and it’s because of that interactive audio experience.

AND: What was really unique about Wys was how we iterated the product. We didn’t start with a clinical workbook and turn it into a chatbot. We took evidence-based techniques that worked and then listened to users about what they needed and where some didn’t work for them. We then worked with clinicians to create models that were useful for users when trying to help themselves. This has created a balance of power between users and clinicians, powered by artificial intelligence and analytics, that has never been possible before.

Creating innovative solutions to real-world problems

AND: We wanted to make access to mental health off-limits – something you can access on your phone at 3am and continue to use as often as you need. Research shows that people are 3 times more likely to open up to AI than even a human therapist. This creates an opportunity to create psychological safety, but must also be accompanied by privacy-first design and proven, measurable results. We have been able to demonstrate the effect in adolescents, as well as in the elderly with chronic pain, with blue-collar workers as well as technical experts.