SAN FRANCISCO – With video games and gadgets demanding screen time, the art of the children’s book has been lost in the mobile era, specifically around the holiday season. So, just in time for this holiday season, AKQA launched its 2016 holiday card The Snow Fox – a children’s story that comes to life by voice.
Using the latest SiriKit to turn voice into a reading gesture—a mobile first—The Snow Fox gives new life to the oldest form of story while transforming how we incentivize our children to learn.
The Snow Fox is a wintry tale of a young child who adventures through the forest with a newfound furry friend in search of his/her mother. But this is no ordinary story. The Snow Fox is powered by words. As the child reads, the story animates. When a sentence is finished, the story automatically transitions to the next scene. Word by word the story comes to life, bringing an element of magic to special bedtime story bonding moments between parent and child.
At the end of The Snow Fox, children can create a short memento of their narration to share with family and friends.
The Snow Fox is a personalized children’s story that comes to life word by word. The Snow Fox app includes the following unique functions:
Uses the iOS 10 system, which for the first time allows other apps to use the Siri technology. While most apps may use this technology in a more traditional way by just opening up the app and booking something (e.g. “Can I get an Uber?”), AKQA saw a larger opportunity to apply the new technology for something good – helping teach our children to read.
The Snow Fox is only available on iOS mobile devices for now.
The story is personalized based on gender and name, which the user says aloud for Siri to recognize during one of the onboarding screens.
Because The Snow Fox is a re-imagined reading experience, there are no page numbers. Instead, the reader’s voice leads a seamless journey from scene to scene.
With entertainment options at an all-time high and learning and the enjoyment of reading suffering accordingly, the incentives to capture the attention of young minds has to be greater than ever.
The experience creates a special video memento overlaying the child’s voice with the animations in the story—the ultimate gift to share with family and friends.
The Snow Fox is made to be enjoyed by parents and children together as they snuggle up for a bedtime story. We have more features planned for the future that will make this an enjoyable and educational app during any season.
The Snow Fox is available to download for free and in English from app stores for iOS devices worldwide.
