WonderTree aims to be ‘Google of special education’ with focus on AR and VR games
▶ Pakistan-based start-up plans to expand into more schools in the UAE,
The co-founders of education technology start-up WonderTree are on a mission to help children with disabilities to learn and develop by playing augmented reality and virtual reality games online.
The idea is to channel children’s engagement and excitement from playing games into learning in fun and interactive ways while developing their social, emotional, cognitive and motor skills.
Working with occupational therapists, special education teachers and parents, the WonderTree team has developed games that are suitable for children with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, attention deficit hyperactive disorder and learning difficulties.
“We want to be the Google of special education and development,” co-founder and chief executive Muhammad Waqas says.
“Our dream is to make special education, and development affordable, accessible and effective for every child of determination in the world.”
While video games can provide entertainment, they also have therapeutic benefits for children with cerebral palsy, says Sam John, senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne.
Games that use motion sensors or virtual reality are especially helpful as part of physical therapy, he says. Certain video games can also enhance cognitive skills, including problem-solving, spatial awareness and strategic thinking.
Established in April 2016 in Karachi, Pakistan, WonderTree expanded to the UAE in February last year, with an office in the Abu Dhabi Global Market and a smaller team in Dubai.
The idea for the business first came to Muhammad Usman, WonderTree’s co-founder and chief technology officer, when he saw how his older brother, who is a person of determination, enjoyed playing a video game on his Xbox.
Mr Usman then teamed up with his neighbour, Mr Waqas, to launch the start-up eight years ago with “passion, grit and bootstrapping really hard”.
“We take the existing physiotherapy, educational and cognitive exercises that educators and parents are using in the daily life of children of determination and we gamify them using augmented reality to make them fun, engaging and interactive for the child,” Mr Waqas says.
The games are customised to make them as inclusive as possible and to meet the children’s varying needs, he says.
The web-based games, which use artificial intelligence, require a laptop, webcam, an internet connection and a subscription to start playing.
They are developed based on established theories on education, as well as cognitive, socio-emotional and motor skills development, Mr Waqas says.
New and existing games are also developed or improved through feedback from an advisory board of medical experts and a community of users.
Mr Waqas says that WonderTree works with various institutions, including a research and pilot programme with the UAE’s Mubadala Health. It has also been certified by Doha-based Mada, a non-profit organisation that aims to improve digital accessibility for people of determination, according to its website.
WonderTree also wrote a research paper with the Institute of Professional Psychology at Bahria University in Pakistan.
The start-up’s name comes from the “wow factor or wonder” of being engaged in activities in an augmented reality, while the platform is similar to a “tree” that provides nurture for the children it helps, Mr Waqas says.
Its main customers include special education institutions and organisations that support children of determination. It teams up with the UAE’s Zayed Higher Organisation for People of Determination and Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority.
WonderTree “can really shine and make an impact” in children from the ages of four to 14 with mild to moderate conditions, Mr Waqas says.
Its target market includes special schools, schools with inclusive programmes, occupational therapy centres and parents of children with determination.
The subscription fee for WonderTree’s games varies by market, with a base price of Dh3,000 per child annually in the UAE, Mr Waqas says.
That includes access to unlimited hours of games on the platform, technology support and a customised report on the child’s developmental progress as they play the games.
In Pakistan, WonderTree’s products are used in 45 schools across the country, with 2,500 active users, says Mr Waqas.
In the UAE, the start-up has 800 users in seven schools and centres within a year of starting operations, with plans to approach to more organisations.
The company wants to expand its business-to-business reach in the UAE while focusing on the business-to-consumer market in the US, where it will sell its products online to parents. WonderTree will start operations in February in the US, where the business is registered in Delaware, followed by an expansion across North America, says Mr Waqas.
The founders are also working on entering Saudi Arabia and other markets in the GCC.
Having grown up in Pakistan, Mr Waqas and Mr Usman are also setting their sights on India and Bangladesh. “We are taking it one step at a time but we want to achieve all this,” Mr Waqas says.
The start-up’s operations in Pakistan are profitable and it aims to break even in the UAE this year, says Mr Waqas.
WonderTree also plans to attract investors later this year to raise funds after it solidifies its position in the local market, he says.