EdTech CEO Dave Room Speaks On ZBook & AR’s Future Role As A Driving Force For Effective Education
In the past 1500 years, the format of books has remained largely unchanged until relatively recently with the introduction of the animated book, more specifically known as augmented reality (AR) books or augmented books, where stories are brought to life with the help of a mobile device app. Animated books change the reading experience; users hover an app over illustrations, transforming them into animations, videos, and virtual reality experiences.
In parallel, the US has seen constant crisis within its educational system, with constant disappointing performances in terms of world-wide educational intuition rankings, and studies showing a clear decline in reading among the youth, exasperated by the continuing rise in the amount of digital media and devices providing easy distractions with little educational value.
In comes the counter to these negative social trends in the form of Pacha, the young protagonist in the initial ZBook animated book series, Pachas Pajamas. The series’ success in pushing positive educational trends goes hand and hand with the scientific studies done around the positive impact and effectiveness of animated books, with clinical trials showing that augmented reality books increase reading comprehension, expressive vocabulary, and fundamental ability to learn new tasks.
“Over the next several years, The book will become an ever-evolving guided and curated pathway through the contextually relevant universe of written word, multimedia, interactions, and experiences.” – Dave Room
Dozen’s of startups and numerous established companies have rushed to jump into the future of reading with their own attempts at entering the animated book market. From Pacha, ZBook looks to stretch the technology and benefit of its animated book technology and product farther and farther, going into genre’s such as textbooks, non-fiction books, user manuals, cookbooks, and much more.
“Pacha Pajamas: A Story Written By Nature”, was the official title for this first ZBook release by BALANCE Edutainment, and it featured over 80 illustrations that when activated using an app, would turn into interactive short animations that instantly caught and kept children’s attention taking them through the strong narrative that is Pacha’s journey. In addition, the impact goes beyond the pages of the book by hitting on current social issues such as environmental pollution and climate change. Combined with appearances by actor/activist/song-writer Mos Def, lyricist Talib Kweli, cultural icon Cheech Marin, and many more strong influences in today’s culture, Pascha’s story accomplished what has been failed time and time again, not only keeping a child’s attention but engaging them to want to continue reading on their own outside of the series.
Key to the significance of this ZBook series is also it’s target demographic, which aims for an older and more well versed demographic than that of other market competitors in animated books, which furthers the significance and influence of the ZBook product compared to the rest of the animated book industry.
Balance Edutainment will be showcasing their newest ZBook release Pacha Pajamas, along with its AR App at the AWE 2017 Startup section for AR/VR Entrepreneurs, and as part of their larger product campaign have retained one of the premier national digital media and marketing firms, Influence Hill Media.
Don’t miss BALANCE Edutainment CEO & ZBook Founder Dave Room as he discusses the future of animated books on June 2 at 10 a.m. in the Consumer Track.
About BALANCE Edutainment:
BALANCE Edutainment aims to continue in it’s role as one of the most significant and active pioneers in the augmented reality space. With a successful product launch already under it’s belt through the ZBook, the company aims to continue it’s expansion into different markets, product types, and areas of society that can be positively influenced by the experience, knowledge, and technology that is steadily forming a continuing and expanding foundation of success for BALANCE Edutainment.Dave Room, founder of Balance Edutainment, is quoted as saying “Augmented reality is the future of illustrated print media!”, and this reflects the attitude of the company as a whole, which is constant intelligent application of augmented reality in areas where it had little or absolutely no presence before.
About Pacha’s Pajamas: The Initial Glimpse Into The Power Of ZBook Based Products
Pacha’s imagination is bigger than the Andes Mountains, homeland of her ancestors. When Pacha goes to sleep, the characters on her PJs guide her on dream adventures to learn more about herself and her connection to the natural world. Each story in the series has a different theme and pajamas design. The themes of the first story are connectedness with ourselves, one another, and nature, and the characters on her pajamas are plants and animals. The day before Earth Day, Pacha’s magical pajamas carry her into an epic dream where she’s the central player at a nature festival to save the planet from destruction. Pacha awakens with the inspiration to show the world that we are all connected. http://pachaspajamas.com.
About Dave Room:
Dave’s most important identifier is Melia’s Papa. His teenage daughter Melia is his joy and inspiration. Since receiving a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering from Stanford University, Room has worked on the innovative edge of a number of emergent fields including yield management, environmental performance measurement, intranet development, ecommerce software and renewable energy. In the process, he had leadership roles in several tech startups and a non profit he co-founded called Bay Localize. With the intention to uplift tens of millions of children worldwide, Room co-founded BALANCE Edutainment, co-authored Pacha’s Pajamas: A Story Written By Nature and executive produced the nine-award winning companion album. Dave has coined the term “The Awakening Journey” as a modern alternative to the Hero’s Journey, and is actively participating in the AR/VR for Good conversations. Dave is an Active Dreaming teacher, a SoulCollage® Facilitator and a Green For All fellow. Check out his blog at MeliasPapa.com. Twitter: @meliaspapa.
About Influence Hill Media:
Proven leader in the field of digital media, marketing, branding, and especially known for their ability to assimilate an emerging product, company, or market into the mainstream. Hired to ensure that the significance of the ZBook product is fully conveyed to the entire society at large, rather than just the AR niche. The firm is led by Clifford Chapman, a former CEO for multiple companies that found his passion on the VC side working with companies that produce true dynamic global change, and John Khainson, a former senior product manager in Fin Tech who left banking, building his own successful start ups across a variety of niches. http://www.influencehill.com
