We worked closely with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, 100 children, and 35 doctors across 18 months of immersive research, iterative design, and manufacturing. Through the duck and its accompanying app, children can learn through medical play, administer chemotherapy to their duck, express difficult emotions to caregivers, and more.

PATIENT IMPACT

12k+ ducks distributed across 300+ hospitals to date, provided at no cost in the US and Japan. As published in Pediatric Blood & Cancer, the duck has been shown to reduce distress for children and their parents.

BUSINESS IMPACT

My Special Aflac Duck elevated Aflac's brand storytelling, with 2.5 billion media impressions and 2.4k placements in 2018.

A study conducted by the Reputation Institute showed that 15% of people in the US had heard of the program, and 100% of those people stated they were more likely to purchase Aflac's products.

Committee for Children (CFC) funded research to explore the connection between fidgeting and self-soothing, leading to the creation of early low-fidelity prototypes. After testing these prototypes in field studies and publishing positive early outcomes, CFC looked to Sproutel to commercialize their research, resulting in the Purrble companion.

USER IMPACT

Ongoing research is studying the effects of the Purrble companion in a randomized controlled trial. Preliminary research showed that:
73% of parents reported their child is experiencing challenges with emotions, concentration, and behavior during COVID.91% of those parents reported that the Purrble companion played a role in improving these challenges.
We are currently seeking partners to distribute the Purrble companion to high-need groups, such as children in foster care and victims of trauma.

BUSINESS IMPACT

In leading commercialization, Sproutel incrementally de-risked the process, from an early idea to a compelling product on the market.

PUBLICATIONS

JMIR Mental Health
The Proceedings of the ACM on Human Computer Interaction (HCI)

Sproutel led Honda Research Institute-EU (HRI) through our design process, starting from a broad topic - the future of aging. From research to proof of concept, Sproutel collaborated with HRI researchers to translate user needs uncovered through research into a specific technological solution.

PRODUCT

This process resulted in Clara - a video chat device designed specifically for socially isolated seniors. The product's unique differentiation is its very wide-angle curved display and camera, creating an immersive video chat experience.

PROJECT STATUS

The device is in the prototype development stage, and we are in the process of preparing a low volume production run to pilot the device. We are currently seeking partners interested in commercializing Clara.

Our process