Hello Wonder Creates AI-Powered Browser for Kids

Around the world, regulators have stepped up their efforts to attempt to make children safer online. Major social networks are coming under scrutiny, and as a countermeasure, they try to implement child protection tools. The major issue we’re specializing in is the content that’s displayed on kid’s screens and learn how to keep it protected.

While a lot of these efforts are aimed toward teens, toddlers are also using devices to devour content. So the trio of founders, who’ve worked at firms like Google and Amazon, try to create an AI-powered browser/companion to create a protected environment for kids to learn and explore through Hello Miracle.

The company currently has an iPad app — which folks have full control over — that lets kids ask inquiries to an AI chatbot and receive answers, videos, and interactive experiences which might be protected for them. The startup believes that current content tools like YouTube Kids deal with more engagement and don’t give parents enough insight into what their kids are consuming. That’s an issue the corporate goals to unravel.

Hello Wonder has raised $2.1 million from investors including Designer Fund, A16Z Scout Fund, GroundUp Ventures and Chasing Rainbows. Other investors include Pocket Watch kids content studio CEO Chris Williams, Things Inc. founder Jason Toff and MESH electronics fund CEO Tony Fai.

Hello Wonder’s founders are Seth Raphael, who led AI prototyping teams at Google and helped create the primary version of Google Photos; Brian Backus, who has worked as a games producer at Amazon, Disney, DreamWorks, and NBCUniversal; and Daniel Shiplacoff, a product designer who worked on Google’s Material Design guidelines.

Raphael created the app while struggling to boost five children under the age of 12 through the COVID-19 pandemic. He told TechCrunch that while he saw the potential for AI to assist children through university, the technology was not yet mature.

“The fundamental problem is that you and I use the Internet wonderfully every day and get a lot of value from it. But we can’t allow our children to do that because it’s a real disservice. Furthermore, young children don’t have the ability or the tools to find content that is helpful to them,” he said.

Raphael said he began by trying to seek out one of the best content for his kids. But that was limiting when kids desired to dig deeper right into a topic. Then he was inspired by the Montessori teaching method, which involves hands-on learning and activities based on kids’ interests. That led the corporate to construct an AI-powered environment to soundly deliver content from all corners of the web.

The company lets parents control what content—movies, games, and web sites—their children devour. They can receive texts about all sorts of videos or opt for a day by day or weekly summary of consumption. Parents and guardians can tell the AI ​​what content they need and don’t want their children to devour through a natural-language parent interface.

For example, if a family desires to help their child learn to play the violin, they will let Hello Wonder know and the tool will occasionally find and insert content about learning to play the violin.

Aimed at children aged 5 to 10, the Hello Wonder app also allows them to remain in contact with trusted relations via in-app messaging and video calls.

Jordan Odinsky, a partner at GroundUp Venture, said Hello Wonder solves the issue of kids viewing unsafe content by employing artificial intelligence that scans content for safety before it’s exhibited to children.

“The safety features in today’s kids apps are not enough. As a browser, Hello Wonder does not limit kids to any format. They can explore freely, with AI watching over them. They can consume any type of content as long as it aligns with the parent’s values, giving them a true online experience,” he told TechCrunch in a phone interview.

Odinsky added that the app can even adapt as a toddler matures and show content that reflects that growth. He said the app has no problem presenting children with an empty search box and leaving them with no idea what they wish to ask.

“Wonder is built differently. When kids log in, they’re encouraged to search for ideas every time. From there, new ideas emerge for them to explore, which you simply introduce by speaking. A lot of the things that browsers handle, from exploration to discovery to figuring out the best prompt to achieve a desired outcome, are removed from the Wonder experience,” he noted.

The company doesn’t currently charge for the app, but will introduce a subscription tier in the longer term. It’s also testing expanding the app to Android tablets and Chromebooks.