Around 5% of children in the Netherlands have difficulties learning to speak, such as those with autism or a language development disorder. LINKX, a social enterprise, has launched an interactive toy designed to teach these children the names of everyday objects in a fun way.
The idea began as Helma van Rijn’s graduation project for her master’s in Design for Interaction at TU Delft in 2007, when she was named graduate of the year. She continued to research how designers can learn from encounters with autistic children and their caregivers, earning a PhD at TU Delft in 2012. “Many autistic children have difficulty learning to talk, and they need extra time to process information. LINKX makes words tangible,” said Van Rijn. “When I first developed the concept there weren’t smartphones or tablets, and getting custom-made products was difficult. New technology made it possible to realise LINKX using an app and iBeacons.” Van Rijn teamed up with multimedia agency Kiss the Frog, and entered the Vodafone Mobiles for Good Challenge 2015. They were one of six teams to win €30,000 and a four month coaching programme to bring their idea to market. The boot camp concluded on January 28, 2016 with a Demo Day in Amsterdam where LINKX launched their product, and opened their web shop.
The game consists of a set of coloured wooden interactive tags and an app on your smartphone or tablet. Carers can record their spoken words in the app, and connect the tags to corresponding objects or places. When the device is held near a tag, the recording is activated. In this way children can play, discover and learn words. “Autistic children love repetition and to be in control, which they get with this,” said Van Rijn. “What’s innovative about LINKX is that it’s on a device linked to the environment, and the carer controls what is inputted. Most other products are paper-based or just an app.” LINKX can be used by parents, teachers or therapists to make limitless sets of words.
“In the pilot studies families used the kits in surprisingly creative ways: whilst eating lunch, for favourite toys, one even played hide and seek with the tags. They’ve given us lots of ideas for developing LINKX further,” said Van Rijn. “My goal is to realise something for difficult-to-reach groups with the technology of today. I’d like to make LINKX usable for other groups that really need it, with more apps and games.”
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