INVIRTUA GOES GLOBAL WITH MUMBAI, INDIA CLINIC
Interactive avatars are now part of the learning experience for autistic children in Mumbai, the world’s largest city.
Shreya Jain, founder of ReservoirNow, a place where Indian parents can get help for their autistic children, and Gary Jesch of Invirtua have formed a long-term partnership and Jain has already acquired several clients. She and her colleagues who are professional therapists are holding online sessions via Zoom calls, saving parents the time and expense of traveling, especially during the COVID pandemic.
Jain had just returned from a year-long stay in NYC working with the Global Autism Project, when she met Jesch in early 2020. Jesch decided to train her to be India’s very first avatar pilot and spent more than six months in the process.
Recently, Invirtua’s Avatar Adventures became the focus of a webinar produced and hosted by Jain and therapist Yaashna Rajani, where Jesch told his story and demonstrated the 3D Digital Puppeteer (TM) technology.
Reservoir Now – India sees the advent of an Avatar Adventure
Here is a transcript of the Reservoir webinar:
Reservoir Presents Avatar Adventures (Virtual Launch)
Reservoir Owner Shreya Jain:
All right. Hi, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us today. Today is a very exciting day for us for two reasons. The first being that, it is 2nd of April, which is celebrated as World Autism Awareness Day across the world. I remember the first time I heard this word; it was I think, about 18, 19 years back. And I remember my family and I have been so confused because we did not even know what the word meant. But over the last two decades, we’ve seen how awareness around autism has increased, we’ve seen acceptance towards our community grow. But often it can be a very lonely journey. And sometimes you, you know, you don’t understand if you belong. But days like this, and the world Autism Awareness Day has a very, very special place in our hearts. Because I think we can see all of us come together, we see all of us unite and then it serves as a reminder that we’re not alone on this journey. So, I want to thank you all for coming out, extending your support, we all have so much gratitude for you.
When I started Reservoir, our main goal was to create a platform where we can find trustworthy resources, find support, and lobby for greater inclusion. The core of our vision has always been to make support and services more accessible. In the last few years, we’ve worked with so many families, with professionals in this space. We launched so many campaigns, it has truly allowed us to understand what happens on ground, what are some of the challenges that we face on ground. And I think with all of these learnings, and all of our experiences, we created something that we’re very, very excited about. And that’s the second reason of us all being here today. It’s my honor and privilege to share with you months of hard work and years of hard work of Avatar Adventures.
Before I started Avatar, before I tell you everything about what this adventure looks like, I want to introduce my two guests of honors who are instrumental, and also the two main pillars of this program. Please welcome Gary Jesch. He’s the founder of Invirtua, which is an animation for autism organization based in Nevada, United States. Gary has spent the last few years creating these beautiful characters called Avatars, which children absolutely seem to love. And I’ve seen some of the children fall in love with these characters. And I’m very excited to explore you all to experience that with us today. Thanks so much, Gary, for everything that you do for us and for being here today. Next up Yaashna Rajani, Rajani is an audiologist and a sweet speech language pathologist. Her years of experience working with children with diverse needs truly allowed us to explore the potential of this program. And we will talk to you soon about what our experience with the pilot has been so far and how you can become a part of it.
A little bit more about avatar adventures. So, Avatar Adventures is a highly engaging and effective virtual learning tool, which allows every child to learn in a very unique way. I personally believe that our current education system has some limitations, which does not allow all children to learn in the same way. But I think avatar adventures breaks past that limitation. So Gary introduced his Avatar Buddies at a National Autism Society conference in the United States. And has invested a lot of time in conducting research, which focuses on the usability and effectiveness of the software. He’s currently working with several clinics at Humana to help children on the spectrum. Gary, I think it would be really exciting for everyone to see the characters first before we talk about the benefits, before we talk about what the program looks like. So, I want to invite you to share what motivated you to start Avatar Ventures, what motivated you to start Invirtua, and then also give us a sneak peek into the world of these avatars.
Gary Jesch:
Well, thank you Shreya. It’s an honor and a pleasure to be with you and your colleagues here on this webinar. And thank you very much for inviting me to speak today.
My work within Invirtua comes at a time in my life when I wasn’t quite sure exactly how I was going to be spending my retirement, I guess you could say. And it turned out that the technology that I had been using in marketing and in entertainment appears to be very beneficial for those on the spectrum. And that’s actually the same results of article I read about 25 years ago, predicting that avatars, and interactive cartoon characters would be beneficial.
So, the truth is coming around finally, and my company is very dedicated to doing this. When I was growing up, one of my many cousins was affected by this same type of learning disability and there wasn’t much that can be done in those days. And so, I was very much touched by his circumstances and wanted to find a way to help. And it looks like we’re on the right track. So, thank you for this opportunity to bring this technology to your home country of India, where we can also make a difference in the lives of children there.
Shreya Jain:
Absolutely. I think we met a few months ago, and when you showed me what the avatars looked like, and when I heard about all the work that you’d been doing with kids there, I knew that the scope of this was much more than just for children in the United States. And I knew that even children in India could really, really benefit from a software like this, from a program like this.
Of course, I understand that there are cultural differences between our two countries. But I think this is the beauty of the software, I think it transcends all bars of geographies, of language. And just, it always amazes me how personal and how unique each experience for each style can be. I will now request you to show us what these avatars look like.
Gary Jesch:
Sure. So the technology itself is about creating a digital cartoon character. And then using this special software that we designed and worked with, to bring that character to life in real time, so that when I speak, it speaks, and I can control its facial expressions, the animation on the screen. And so, that’s what I’m going to show you.
And the way it works is, I’ve an extra microphone down here, so that when I speak into it, the computer picks the sound of my voice up and that’s what makes the lips move. And then on this device, which is a digital tablet, I’m actually moving my pen around on the surface of this tablet and that’s how I’m controlling the avatars so that they move around. So, if you can kind of, picture me doing an animation live, with these tools. Let’s show you what it looks like.
So, the first character that I’m going to show you this evening is an avatar by the name of Marley. And Marley is a cartoon fish: “Hi, everybody, it’s me, Marley. Oh, it was so great to be here in Mumbai, India, at least for a little while to speak with all of you. And as you can see, there’s a lot going on under the ocean here. And the fun part is getting to meet all of these nice children that are special. Yeah, we really enjoy talking to them.
So, you can see, I have all these various facial expressions; I can be surprised and look around. Or maybe I could just be a little sleepy. But there’s all sorts of facial expressions, that I can bring my storytelling to life in real time. And I also enjoy just giving a nice happy face with a big smile to everybody. So that’s a little look at Marley.” There you go. What did you think of that?
Shreya Jain:
I think that was awesome. Unfortunately, we’ve asked everyone to keep themselves on mute, so that you know we can focus on the speaker. But if everyone could type their comments in the chat box, that would be very encouraging.
Gary Jesch:
Excellent, excellent. Well, I guess we’ll just keep going here, then. Actually, over the years Shreya, I’ve designed more than 30 characters. And we’re using video game technology, but not so much of the game except for the part about how the characters are rendered in real time.
And to demonstrate that, let me introduce you to another character. This character, I believe, is one of yours also. In fact, Shreya. you have performed this character yourself, with your children there, and I hear you do a great job. I don’t know if I could do as well as you. But let’s give it a try.
Shreya Jain:
Yeah, he’s my favorite.
Gary Jesch:
“Oh, Hello, there. My name is Kikof. That’s right. And I am the last remaining dinosaur stand-up comedian. Oh, a lot of people say well, hey, Kikof are you from Jurassic Park? I say no, no, it’s Jurassic trailer park. Oh, well, there’s one bad joke for me tonight, I promise you, I won’t do any others. But better get out of here and see what’s going on? Well, maybe I won’t, I’ll just hang out. What do you think? What would you like me to do?”
Shreya Jain:
Hang out, hang out a little bit more.
Gary Jesch:
Yeah, hang out. Good choice. Good choice. And even Yaashna likes me to hang out. Right, Yaashna?
Yaashna Rajani:
Yeah, surely.
Gary Jesch:
“So, you can see how easy it is for us to interact right over video calls. And this is how we are actually delivering our technology into the home, so that we have a home-based education technique, right? And so, it’s very safe for the children very convenient for the parents. And not only is it safe and convenient, but it’s quite educational. Because the folks that run all this are very, I guess you would say conscientious, that is we really care and we’re really dedicated to the welfare of the child.”
Shreya Jain:
Absolutely. Gary, I would also it would be interesting for everyone to see how Kikof can be in different environments. So, if you could show him in probably another part of the jungle, you know, anywhere else in the world.
Gary Jesch:
Well, everywhere else in the world, I suppose. The cool part of this is that, our animation system actually lets us incorporate video backgrounds, and still backgrounds and overlays. So, we can create content, many times for the sessions that I do with the children. Here, I actually create graphics using PowerPoint. And then I set those up and I work with the therapists and caregivers to take the children through story, maybe a storytelling exercise or a workshop type of format, all depending on the curriculum that we decide that’s best for the child.
So, Oh, there is Kikof and let me give you a little look there. “So here I am on my favorite spot in the stream, here in the jungle. Or maybe I’ll just turn around here. And let’s see if I can do this. There we go. Oh, look at that, that isn’t that some great animation. I could do this for days. In fact, I think because the computer is just running now. I could do this for days. But our software is very stable and it’s a lot of fun for us to work with. And you know what they call us folks here that run these animations. Shreya well, there we go. Let me turn around. See, here’s a little PowerPoint slide that we put together with a lovely little American blonde girl. You know what they call it? Shreya. They call it Avatar Pilots. What a great name that is. Oh, so Gary is an avatar pilot and so is Shreya. What about that everybody?”
Shreya Jain:
I think that’s it.
Gary Jesch:
There’s one other avatar I’d like to show your guests tonight, if I may.
Shreya Jain:
Absolutely. Everyone seems to be asking a question, which is, is it compatible with other languages?
So absolutely, it’s compatible with any kind of language, since the avatar pilot, or the person who’s behind the avatar can talk in whichever language they know. So, again, we can use Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, as long as the avatar pilot is fluent in that language.
Gary Jesch:
Yes, exactly. So, you know, as an avatar pilot, it’s my voice that is the voice of the Avatar. So whatever I speak, is the language that the child is going to hear. And when we set it up our sessions, not only can the child see and hear the avatar, perhaps on the home laptop, or the home computer in a tele session, but also we use a webcam so that we can see and hear the folks on the other side, just like Shreya, you and I are right now in this session, and you folks that are that are attending this. So that’s the beauty of using video conferencing, to deliver these experiences of the Avatar Adventure.
So, Shreya, we’ve talked a little bit about, you know, Marley’s experiences in the Avatar Adventure, maybe talking about the world of under the sea. And we went to Kikof, which is a popular character for little boys, dinosaurs are always super intriguing, right?
Another way that the technology can be used, is to actually create a safe space to practice areas where a child with a learning difficulty, may have some troubles and just needs a little bit of guidance and just needs to practice maybe get a little coaching or whatever, right?
Shreya Jain:
Absolutely.
Gary Jesch:
So, what I’m going to do here is I’m going to demonstrate one of our avatars who looks like a young man, and this avatars name is Malakai. And I’m going to use my regular voice. Yeah. And then we’ll ask Malakai to speak a little bit if that’s okay, all right?
Shreya Jain:
Of course.
Gary Jesch:
So, let’s give that a try. Okay, so we see this avatar. And, you know, he’s actually looks like the attendant behind the counter at a McDonald’s or a fast food restaurant. And one of the ways that we use this character was really effective. There was a young boy who had this difficulty of anxiety and nervousness. And when he would go into the fast food restaurant with his mother, he just was not able to really ask for his order. He would look around and people were behind him waiting for their turn. And maybe the attendant behind the counter was in a big hurry and just wanting to get down and didn’t really give him much time to do, to work it out.
And so, he just could not order his lunch. It was kind of sad, you know, that this young boy just wanted to do something very simple that we take for granted. And so, what we did is we created an environment where this boy could actually practice making his order. So in that case, Shreya, it looked kind of like this. So, Malakai says, “Hey, there, young man, what would you like for lunch?”
Shreya Jain:
Hey, can I have? I can be, I can go play with you.
Malakai:
“Thank you. So, what would you like for lunch?”
Shreya Jain:
Can I have some fries and a burger please?
Malakai:
“You said fries and a burger, Right?”
Shreya Jain:
Yes.
Malakai:
“Yes. Actually, at the moment. We’re out of the fries. They’re still cooking. Would you mind waiting a minute or two?”
Shreya Jain:
Okay. Okay.
Malakai:
“Well, thank you. I appreciate it. And would you like something to drink?”
Shreya Jain:
No, thank you.
Malakai:
“No, nothing to drink. Are you sure? Maybe a cola.”
Shreya Jain:
Oh no! My mom says that’s bad for my teeth.
Malakai:
“Oh, yeah. Well, moms know best. How about a milkshake?”
Shreya Jain:
Yes, I can go milkshake would be nice. It’s quite hot right now.
Malakai:
“Yeah, that would taste better than a hot tea at the moment, I’m sure. Whoa. I hope I didn’t surprise you too much. So, okay, I think your fries are just about ready. So that’ll be, well here in the US that would be $2. So, do you have any money? Do you like to pay for your meal?”
Shreya Jain:
Yes, can I buy it with a card?
Malakai:
“Oh, yes, we accept card, see right over there is the card reader. If you’d like to just go ahead and insert your card, I can take the payment.”
Shreya Jain:
Awesome. And then we can also, Yeah, we can also have like with more props that we can sort of readily keep with the person who’s practicing. So, it can be as interactive as we want it to be.
Gary Jesch:
Absolutely. And so typically, the avatar pilot would work out some of the issues with the parents in advance, right? So, that when they start the session, they kind of know where they’re going to go with this and where the places are, where like say, the parent or the therapist might want to prompt the child to help him over difficult spot.
And so, we did this with one of our young people in the clinic here, where I live. And actually in two weeks after working with the child this way, the young man ordered his own lunch on his own, in the local fast food restaurant, much to his mother’s surprise, I might add it. She was so excited, she came back to our next session, and she was just said, I would have never thought that he could do it. But he was able to just because of this simulation that we had created, you know, using the technology.
So, that was one of our happiest days. Also, we all, you know, have this great sense of pride that we share with the mothers and the fathers and the therapists and the children when there’s a success like that. So that’s really the best reward of all for our work.
Shreya Jain:
Absolutely. I think Yaashna and I have experienced small victories, as well. And I think it gives us so much joy when we see that friendship is being formed. And I think I’m going to get Yaashna to talk about this a little bit.
Yaashna, if you could share your experience, right, you’ve worked with kids for so long. How do you think Avatar Adventures is a value add to this experience?
Yaashna Rajani:
So, I have been working with children with autism, ADHD, social communication difficulties, and other learning differences for a while now. And being a speech therapist, we work on the child’s receptive language, expressive language, attention, feeding issues, articulation, voice fluency, social skills, there’s an overall look that we take at a child.
So, when working with children or times certain skills, we see the child is doing beautifully with me in the session. But for some reason, they’re not always generalized, or they’re generalized with just a very particular set of people. So you know, I always had this feeling that there’s something missing, like this some link which is just not complete. And many times, with some children, it gets very difficult to motivate a child into doing an activity, especially for parents to motivate the child into doing something which is a non-preferred choice of activity for the child.
So, at that time, when Shreya, you came to me with the whole Avatar Adventures concept, I was very intrigued. I found the concept very interesting, and especially the fact that there is another person behind the avatar. So it’s not a prerecorded message, there is another person there. So there is a true two way conversation taking place. And being especially in India, we, taking care of the multicultural background and the multilingual background, whereas the avatar can speak in Hindi, English, Marathi, whatever the child is comfortable with. And due to the lifelike characteristics of the Avatar, especially thanks to you, Gary, it makes it very interesting, very interactive, and very motivating for the child to really respond to it compared to responding to me.
So, I instantly thought you know, this could be it. This can be that, this can be the main thing that bridges the gap put us from the therapy session to the real world, as this is a program which is goal based, and custom made for each child. And in today’s day and age, our children are growing up the technology, we are in a world where it is technology. So why not use this technology to help them learn something, not only make it interesting not only make it fun and entertaining, but at the same time make it a learning experience. So it’s a win-win for everybody in that situation.
Shreya Jain:
Absolutely.
Yaashna Rajani:
I think for me avatar was just that fit my criteria, I think for the things I felt we were lacking. And I was like, yeah, this is it. Maybe, you know, this was what will help us complete that transition for each challenge. This could be that missing link between the two.
Shreya Jain:
100%! No, I think Yaashna also talked about the pilot that we’ve done with a few children over the last five weeks. I think, for me, it was really interesting how every child responded very differently. Everyone’s equation with the character, even though we were using Kikof for most parts with all of them, they all have very independent relationships, right?
I’m not sure if I should use the names of the children. So I think that the first child, what we observed was that he was really good at computers. So for him, it was very interesting to see how this is moving, how the character is speaking and that’s what caught his eye. And then over a course of time, he finally settled in, and he understood that it is a computer character.
I also remember when like, I think by the third fourth session, he was actually like very fond of Kikof, and he said, can Kikof come to my house to meet me? And then we had to ask him, you know, can a computer character leave the computer, right? And then it was very interesting for me to see that. He also had questions like, oh, you know, I love this Bollywood film star. Can he also come to meet me through this computer?
So, I could see that he was relating the applications of the software very, very quickly, what do you have to say about, you know, that particular case? Anything interesting that you noticed?
Yaashna Rajani:
Yeah, so I think it was very, I think it’s been a learning experience for you and me, I think, this whole pilot process.
So, it’s very interesting to see for him initially, whereas we had one child who was just fascinated with Kikof coming on, and just wanted to chat with him. Whereas we had this other child, which was talking about who was like, okay, you’re talking, but how? How are you moving? How can you respond to me? How do you know, how do you know you’re, how you praising me? Because normally, I would be the one who would say, you know, good job. And he said, well, how is he doing that? I said, because he likes the way of working. So he had more of an outlook as Okay, what’s happening. And which I really liked cos he picked up a lot on the body language of the Avatar, which I did not see him picking up otherwise.
So, he picked up the nonverbal cues of the avatar, he picked up the avatars body language. And in one session, he actually said, ‘oh, you look sad. Why are you sad’, which had not happened before. So I was very thrilled, I think I was on top of the world, because for me to explore that, had to be a very abusive expression, and an extreme expression, which otherwise individuals don’t show. I don’t have to cry every time I’m upset. My facial expression, and my body language could just indicate I’m upset, which I think with Kikof because he builds that bond, he picked it up. And in fact, he even correlated to it because I am doing this.
So, he realized that there’s a communication breakdown happening, and it’s because of me. So he identified the problem. Just he needed help to figure out okay, how do I repair this? How do I repair this communication breakdown, that has happened right now? So I think that was very interesting.
Gary Jesch:
Yeah.
Shreya Jain:
No, I think absolutely. And I think what’s beautiful about this is that we can take the pressure off from the child of behaving like perfectly, in that session, and the character is never disciplining the child.
So, they’re equal in this interaction, their friends, like there is no therapist-child relationship in this session. I think one of the interesting things that I observed for both our children was, when we could put Kikof in the same situation that they’ve already been in. So, every time, we would meet the parents after the session for feedback, we will try and understand what their week looks like, and then give them context in the session that we did on Sunday with them, right?
So, for example, it was really interesting for me to see how one of the kids responded when Kikof was not being invited to a birthday party or was not being accepted by his friends fully. So how he encouraged Kikof to keep trying, and to probably play games that other children like, because he didn’t play games that other children liked himself. And then we could see slowly, slowly he realized that Kikof was becoming sad when other children didn’t accept him. And then he knew he had to do something to help him out. And I’m hoping that we can see that transition even in real life as and when we meet the children.
Yaashna Rajani:
Yeah, I think you know, the whole process of keeping in touch with parents regularly. You know, we even identified situations, it could be behavioral or a social situation. You know, that moment where the parent found it difficult to navigate and difficult to deal with at that time. But the same experience when we put it on Kikof, because when it’s me and the child doing it, one is there’s always this, am I right? Was I right? That kind of an equation comes in but whereas Kikof, Kikof was a friend.
So, even in my role-play situations earlier, if I would ask him, can you help me with this? The response would be you know how to do it. Because they wouldn’t believe I don’t know how to do that. You’re teaching me, you know how to do this. I know, you know it, but whereas with Kikof, it was interesting to see something which they themselves have not done in a particular situation, but advising the child to do that. And at the same time, in the following week, applying that to themselves. I had this child here who has applied the same thing to himself and actually played another game, which he has never done before, but played a game suggested by his peer, okay. So, 15 to 20 minutes, we did that, and then eventually said, okay, no, I’m bored. Let’s go back to my game. But at least he gave that an opportunity and that’s why these are stuck around to continue the interaction with you, which otherwise has not happened before.
Shreya Jain:
Sure.
Gary Jesch:
Seems like they’re getting some confidence. So, self-confidence is taking over where there used to be anxiety, right? And I think that that’s one of the biggest factors, as they go through their lives is to learn how to displace the anxiety and to become confident learners.
Shreya Jain:
Absolutely. I think someone has requested if we can do a demonstration in Hindi, right. And I would love to do that. So if just give me a minute, I’m going to switch some things at the back. And then I’m going to be back with a character. In the meantime, if anybody has any questions to ask, please feel free to do so and then we can we can talk a bit more.
Gary Jesch:
So, Shreya has been training for about the last eight months to be an avatar pilot. And she’s done a very good job of learning how to do it. There are some computer skills that are required, as well as being compassionate and sensitive with these kids, and tuning into them. And that so I’m very proud personally, to be associated with her and with you, Yaashna, because just in the last few weeks, since you have started your pilot program here, I’ve been getting these great reports about how things are going, you know, that’s so great.
Yaashna Rajani:
Yeah, I think even the first time I remember discussing, she had got in touch with me over a call and she said, you know, this is what I have in mind, this is what I’m thinking. And I said, okay, you know what, if you don’t mind before we discuss anything, I would like to see it. So you know, before we get it, because you asked me how can you, how do you think it will help? Do you think your speech therapy and communication goals can be met with this? Can we make it goal based, you know, for our populations? I said, can we see it? And the first time when I saw it and I said yes you know, this is very interactive. It is interesting. Oh, we have Kikof back again.
Shreya Jain:
Hi! Yaashna.
Yaashna Rajani:
Hi.
Shreya Jain:
I think one of our participants, Avinash, I think Avinash could unmute himself, so we can have a chat with Kikof.
Yaashna Rajani:
Yeah. We’ve not done it with children only in English. We have children who are using Hindi and even Marathi. So we have done a pilot even in the two languages also.
Shreya Jain:
Absolutely. So, like you can see –
Yaashna Rajani:
We use our words as for our language, so the code switching and code mixing with languages is what we are doing. So, as what your child is comfortable with, the same thing we’ll be using. Hence, as I said, the parent is a part of this process. I think Mr. Avinash is here.
Avinash Kumar:
Yeah, so, can I say something? Okay. So this is very interesting. I understand this character can speak in any language. My daughter, is 30 years old. And she’s autistic. And, I mean, a non-verbal communication is there, but – Say hi…
Shreya Jain:
Hi , so nice to meet you.
Avinash Kumar:
Okay, so, one thing I want to understand. Suppose I take the software or purchase the software, is licensing only for one year or something about the commercial aspect also, that is number one.
And number two, I got very lucky indeed. My daughter is comfortable in Hindi, how to do that, because it will be interactive kind of thing, or maybe it is AI based or something. How to operate that thing? Yeah, so yes, please tell me.
Gary Jesch:
So, it’s actually, it’s a session like a video call. So we’re not selling anybody software, you’re not, you know, you’re not installing this on your computer. You are joining a telephone video call session with Shreya and Yaashna, who are providing a personal service to you and your daughter, over the video call lines over the internet.
So, that there’s nothing that you purchase as far as software, there’s no artificial intelligence. It’s simply a trained person, avatar pilot, who is controlling the avatar in real time to give your child a personal experience, to be your child’s friend, cartoon friend and to help.
Yaashna Rajani:
I’m not only conversational on this part here, we need to meet him with something communication goals. So, easily having another person who setting these goals and interacting with you is very important.
Avinash Kumar:
Okay, so basically what you’re are saying that, I’m in support, I will have to book that appointment, fix a time slot and then we will be able to do so on a day to day basis. Maybe [unclear] I mean, that is between us. And then again, what is the next stage, it will always be confined to only one to one interaction. Or maybe after say six months or one year, there will be a software, maybe because I’m a scientist, so maybe I can help her in understanding. See, because he indulges in a lot of self-talking.
So, suppose there is a character with whom seems familiar with, and that character becomes a friend after six months or one year. And then if there is something so you can interact. Let me tell you, at the moment she talks with the sofa also, the cushions also. She’s my only daughter, I’m in a nuclear family, but still that problem is there. So she talks sofa set also, cushion also, assuming that the cushion is a friend. Now suppose this character is there and over a period of six months, she becomes very familiar with this character, then this character will become her friend. So that she can, that’s my idea. I don’t know whether it is possible.
Yaashna Rajani:
That’s very interesting.
Shreya Jain:
No, I think it’s definitely possible. So I think it’s something that we will work towards in the future. As of now, I’m talking about the way we operate today, it’s going to be a one on one session. What we can also do, I know Gary’s suggested this to be in the past, is that we can actually show the way the characters operate herself, right?
So, maybe one day, we can give her access to the backend, and she can control the character herself, and try to work with it. I think I’m going to share more about how, you know, you can start today to become a part of the program in just a little bit. But I wanted to ask the audience if there are any more questions before I do that, just questions about the product, questions about whatever we spoke about so far.
Yaashna Rajani:
I think there’s one question talking about AC. Yes, we are working on using this with even non-verbal children in an AC format, where the child can respond through whatever AC system the child is using, the effects be it communication board, be it app, like a prologue, whatever the child is using, we are working on using it like that also. So, this is not limited to only children who are completely verbal, we are looking at even children who are nonverbal, but communicating through different means.
Gary Jesch:
Yes, I would just like to add that, there’s actually a tremendous amount of creativity that the avatar pilots provide, to make each session, educational, fun, using their imagination to excite the child and to engage them so much. And that’s one of the unique things about this is that we can get that child excited, without actually coming to their home, you know, just by over a video call. And that is an educational session and it’s also a big help.
Shreya Jain:
Absolutely. So, someone asked if we can, there can be multiple avatars for group interactions. So not at the moment, I think at the moment, it’s going to be one avatar for a session, we can also switch between different avatars anytime we want. But that’s where we are at, at the moment. All right, I quickly want to… sorry, Yaashna.
Yaashna Rajani:
Yeah, so for group interaction, I think we can even include if we have find a child who pairs well with your child’s language level, we can have two children and the avatar at a later stage, of course, so that we can interact with it.
And you know, the children will also learn how to share the attention of the Avatar, which becomes an important skill later. So that also can be done.
Shreya Jain:
Absolutely. Awesome. So, I have some information to share with you. So, this is Braeden and this is one of Gary’s clients. And he absolutely loves the program.
So, like we said, we will, each character performs a very, very different skill set and has a different purpose. And depending on what your goals are, what your child’s goals are, we match the character that is most suited for that particular goal. Of course, this is something that you can access from the safety and comfort of your home. I understand how traveling to different therapy sessions or, you know, coordinating between sessions can be difficult. So, I think one of the benefits that we definitely have is that this is accessible to you at your convenience.
I think also, now, there was some hesitation about how virtual therapy is beneficial or if it’s effective. But I think the last year, fortunately, unfortunately, has taught us that virtual therapy is the way to go. Like, I think I don’t have to talk about how engaging the characters can be. I think we’ve all seen how gripping each session can be, the multiple things the characters can do in each session, and all of them are unique. Gary also demonstrated how we can incorporate real life situations and practice them in a safe space and make that fun, so that we remove the anxiety and only focus on the technique first. And then when they go into real life, they’re far more comfortable with that.
Yaashna Rajani:
I think we’ve seen this work with our pilot, the real-life situation. We’ve seen this work, so we can say that for sure.
Shreya Jain:
100%, I think it’s very encouraging for us to see when the application of what they’ve learned in the session is not only to that particular skill, but also other skills. So I remember when one of the children that we were working with, spoke over you, Yaashna and Kikof wasn’t even there. He remembered that Kikof doesn’t like it and you know, when he doesn’t listen to him. And he apologized and he said, ‘please go ahead’ because that’s what we’ve been practicing with Kikof.
Yaashna Rajani:
So, he realized that, I was not giving the other person a chance to complete their point, he the child was constantly talking himself. So he paused in between, it took him few sentences, he paused and said, “Wait, Kikof doesn’t like this. You also don’t like it right? If I don’t let you finish”.
So, I said, yes, even I don’t, because I was also saying something. He said, “Okay, I’m sorry, please go ahead and complete your point”. He actually used those words and said it to me without any prompts from my end.
Shreya Jain:
Which is great, because Yaashna did not make a sad face like Kikof did. So over time, what we’ve seen is that the skill set also expands itself.
I think one of the other interesting things that we’ve observed, is how engaging it can be for the child, even in terms of reinforcement. So every time the child gets an activity, right, he runs up, and he can give a high five or a high 10 to the character on the screen. In fact, one of the kids, we do a little dance break every 10 minutes, because he has so much energy that we literally like we see him sitting at the edge of his screen, and he wants to get up and he wants to move around.
So, we’ve been able to channelize that very meaningfully in the session. You know, they we’ve seen kids race across the room. So Kikof will race from one end of the screen to the other, and the child will race from one end of the room to the other and then backward, and then they will run backwards. So, there is so much that we can do in the moment to bring back to the child to the minute, instead of telling them to bring their attention back directly. Otherwise, Yaashna, I would have to tell him focus, are you listening to me, we don’t have to do that anymore, all right?
So, we’re building that rapport, which is so conversational. Alright, I also, this is something that is difficult to talk about. But I think sometimes a lot of clients have told us that for their family members, or extended family members, sometimes it’s difficult to understand why their child needs therapy, it’s something that still hard to fight for sometimes in our country. And I think because this session looks the way it does, it’s so fun. It’s so playful. I think it does help in overcoming stigma around finding additional support for our children as well.
So, Gary’s already spoken to you about how, you know, one of his students was able to order successfully at McDonald’s. So we can replicate similar real life situations for you with restaurants near your house, from pictures from restaurants near your house, we can create those as backdrops in our sessions. I think, for us, for Yaashna and I, what’s very important is that the family is involved equally in this program, only then do we see the benefits really come out. I think Yaashna focuses on creating a plan that’s quantifiable. So, we can also measure how we’re progressing over the course of the weeks. And each session is personalized. So as and when we receive feedback, as and when we see how the child did in the first session, we’re able to improve the process in the upcoming sessions.
All right, I’m going to quickly show you a little bit more about what the session looks like. So it’s usually a 40 minute session. Gary’s already shown you how the avatar pilot controls the character’s real time, how we can use different backgrounds different, different environments for the child to engage with. Before the session, we meet with the family, and the therapist or the educator, they decide on what the goals are. We understand what his likes and dislikes are, what his interests are, and we incorporate that into the session. The session is of course, in that time, it’s the avatar pilots’ job and the therapist’s job to make sure that they connect at every level.
And after the session, we have data collection. And we get feedback also, depending on which we curate your future sessions. And all you need for this is a computer and laptop, we usually conduct these sessions over zoom. So, it’s extremely accessible and there’s nothing in addition that you have to pay for the technology per say. We will be opening the avatar adventures program for some parents. And it will look like this. So, we’ll have a small meet up before to understand, you know what your child likes, and what is your expectation from the program. Then we’ll have five sessions in all, we recommend five sessions because we’ve seen that, sometimes children do take some time to establish a connection with the avatars. Or it’s possible that the first avatar that introduce to them is not the most interesting.
So, I think over five sessions that gives us enough time to understand what is working for the both of us and for the entire team that’s involved in this setup. We then create a customized plan for your child, and which we of course, update continuously through the course of the five sessions. We will be sharing an expression of interest form with you all. So, if you’re interested in joining the program, you can fill that out and someone from our team will reach out to you.
We will send you all the deadlines as to how you can become part of the program. But for now, with the first batch, we want to make sure that people who are available for five weeks, back to back, we’ll give those students preference, although this is a limited seating batch for now, because we do have a very small team. So, we will be doing this on first come first served basis. So yes, that’s all I have to share with you now. I will take any other questions that might be that we still have five minutes left.
Gary Jesch:
And Shreya, you know, one of the other things that we can help with the people who have these learning difficulties, and maybe in their teens, or young adults, and that is, that you can use the technology to help them practice for job interviews. And that’s another way that you can parents can give their children a bit of a boost, is to let them go through the experience of a job interview, work, or if they have anxiety, or they’re just unfamiliar with what it requires to be in a you know, in a job placement situation. And this is something that actually fun for everybody to participate in. And then the good news is when they come and they’ve successfully done an interview out in the world, from what they’ve learned, right?
Shreya Jain:
Absolutely.
Speaker 4:
I have a question. How this will help for non-verbal kids or even my daughter is verbal, but she doesn’t communicate. She has language, but no communication. So how this program will work for her?
Yaashna Rajani:
Currently, what is she using to communicate her needs? You mentioned that she does not communicate to how is she expressing her needs?
Speaker 4:
She only uses her gestures, she has pointed out to the objects that she wants, and when she can’t, she getting frustrated. So I’m definitely looking for some help, and she has been going to sleep therapy for five or six months, but I don’t see that her communication should pick up.
Yaashna Rajani:
How old is your child?
Speaker 4:
She’s four years.
Yaashna Rajani:
Okay, you see, of course, the therapist will work with you with a combination of verbal and nonverbal means, because I think the goal for your child should be communication, not verbal speech, per say but communication. Because as you also said she gets frustrated is because you can’t understand or she can’t express what she wants.
So, we have to come up with a system for her separately, which will be her communication system where whichever method she’s using, and the same method will be incorporated with our avatar, our goals will be planned as for that and only difference will be will be teaching similar skills. The only difference will be the output we are expecting from her, maybe either verbal or nonverbal, whichever she is comfortable with.
So, it will be the same. It’s just that if she’s using a communication system, and again, just because she’s using a communication system doesn’t mean to stop giving the verbal input. You can always say it and if she wants to repeat it or verbalize it that time very nice. If not, it’s okay. We’ve still understood what she was trying to say. So for example, if Kikof asked a question, and she tapped on something or indicated with a card, that Kikof can still see the person behind. Kikof can see what she’s doing. So, oh, great. This is what you’re saying. All right. And we’ll move forward with it.
Speaker 4:Okay, thank you. You know, my child is four years old, he can communicate in two or three statements or sentences. Only my challenge with him is, when we asked him for the explanation or the narration, he is not able to do it. So how will this program be useful for him?
Yaashna Rajani:
So again, so as you mentioned, this is the goal you’re expecting. So this is when we meet with you, you told me that these are the things you would like to work with your child. So, we will create first, maybe environments it could be.
For example, we did this with one of our pilot child, where the child had trouble with, again, he was expressing his needs in sentences, but would not describe something. As soon as it came to description, he would just label key, boy, tree, ball, park, that’s it. There was no description coming in. So what and he was very fascinated with the SeaWorld. So we use a fish character, we use Marley where there was this background behind, there was the fish moving around. And through that we got him to interact. I said, you have to tell him what to do, only then he’ll do it. So then he started describing and he said, ‘Go behind’. I said we didn’t understand where behind. So I said, what’s that there? Then he said, a blue rock. So I said, Okay, so tell him to go behind the blue rock. So that’s how we got him to start describing the whole scene to us by helping us with interact with the character.
Gary Jesch:
And I’d like to just add Yaashna, that sometimes Love is the best communication that there is. And that’s where the avatar pilot expresses their love for the child and for the opportunity to help in each session.
And so, you as a parent, have the love for the child, we are dedicated to the child also. And so we all work together as a team to help get progress going. And love is always part of that.
Speaker 4:
Okay. I couldn’t really get in touch with you, you know, to alert them how we can start.
Yaashna Rajani:
Yeah, I think we will be sending an email because you’re registered. So we can fill out that form also. I think she had to be going very soon to them to write the forms…
Shreya Jain:
Absolutely. So I’m going to put down an email it in the chat box, in case you’ve not registered, and I’ve only joined the event today. You can please send your send us a message on this email address. And we’ll share the expression of interest form with you.
Alright, I think we’re almost in time. Before I let you go, I really want to thank everyone for making the time. I also want to thank the Reservoir team, who’ve worked so tirelessly in making this day happen and making this program happen, a big thank you.
If you have any questions after this, I’m also going to drop in my email address. If you have any questions about the program, please write to me and we can share more information with you. I’m happy, I think Yaashna, if you don’t mind, we can stay back for a couple of more minutes. And if you have any more questions, we’re happy to answer. But once again, thank you so much.
Yaashna Rajani:
Yes, I think somebody mentioned about the PPT, but we are recording this session. So the recording will be available too. If you want to your spouse or anybody else in the house wants to see it again. The recording will be made available to you.
Gary Jesch:
Yep. So keep up the good work in India, ladies. I’m so proud of you. And thank you very much for the opportunity to speak and to meet some of your friends today. It’s fantastic, and I look forward to the opportunity to do it again soon. Thank you.
Shreya Jain:
Thanks so much, Gary.
Yaashna Rajani:
Thank Gary. Thank you so much. I think anybody has any other question they would like us to answer?
Speaker 5:
Sure. Someone has sent a message asking if they could see the demo in Hindi again.
Shreya Jain:
I can actually do that.
Speaker 5:
Can you hear me?
Shreya Jain:
Just give me one second please. Alright, sorry. Can you please try something now?
Speaker 5:
Pardon?
Shreya Jain:
Can you please try something now? I was not able to show you earlier.
Speaker 5:
Okay, can you talk with my child?
Shreya Jain:
OK.
Speaker 4:
Okay, can my child talk with you? She’s six years old. She can talk.
Yaashna Rajani:
Sure, if you can put the video on so we can see.
Shreya Jain:
Okay.
Child:
Hello.
Shreya Jain:
Hello, I’m Kikof. How are you?
Child:
I’m fine. Thank you.
Shreya Jain:
What’s your name?
Child:
[unclear]
Shreya Jain:
[Hindi/Marathi]
Child:
[Hindi/Marathi]
Yaashna Rajani:
[Hindi/Marathi]
Child:
[Hindi/Marathi]
Shreya Jain:
All right. Bye. Bye. So nice to meet you. Bye. Bye.
Child:
All right. Bye. Bye. So nice to meet you.
Speaker: 4
Thank you, Shreya. Thank you very much
Shreya Jain:
Thank you very much. Thank you so much, everybody, for joining us today. It’s been a pleasure. If you have any other messages for us, please feel free to write to us. And we will be in touch with everybody. Thanks, Yaashna. Thanks for joining us.
Yaashna Rajani:
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Shreya Jain:
Bye.
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