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Van Robotics develops AI-enabled, adaptive robots to accelerate learning through highly personalized interactions. The company's first product to market is ABii, a smart robot tutor that delivers personalized math and reading instruction to K-5 students. ABii adapts how it teaches each lesson based on student performance and attention. It also collects and reports on specific indicators of a student's "readiness to learn" like how closely visual attention is correlated to performance, average attention span and what times of day or days of the week the student performs best. When a student misses a question, ABii provides step-by-step guidance on how to get to the correct answer.
Laura Boccanfuso is the Founder and CEO of Van Robotics. She holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of South Carolina. Laura worked as a researcher at the Yale Child Study Center and Yale Social Robotics Lab before launching the company in 2016.
Speaking on innovative products that appeal to the target audience, Laura says, "It starts with identifying the intersection(s) between existing technologies and existing pain points of your target market. Innovating from that point requires an understanding of the trajectories of both the evolving pain points of the target consumer and the capabilities of the tech you are building. Staying a few steps ahead of that trajectory is preferable, but erring on too far ahead or too far behind can be fatal for innovation."
According to Laura, many people think that modern disruptive technologies impact only well-established companies like Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google. However, their potential impact is profound and pervasive and will ultimately affect all sectors and companies, irrespective of size. Innovation in this space is already fundamentally changing how businesses evaluate, improve and effectively re-invent tasks. The most compelling questions to drive future innovation will not be, how will these disruptive technologies change the industries in which they operate? But instead, what new industries will emerge thanks to AI, machine learning and big data and how will those new industries affect the people they impact?
As such, Laura says, the role of a leader in next-gen companies must be one that takes into account the technical and social implications of using disruptive technologies for their innovations because they may have extensive, albeit unintended, consequences.
Van Robotics faced some early challenges, including funding and recruitment. The company needed funding to purchase components for the first prototypes and to find the right software developers to build out its software. Laura then applied for grants from the South Carolina Research Authority, and the National Institutes of Health, and joined the Techstars Accelerator in Austin. Between all the sources, Van Robotics was able to not only get the prototype built, but also to hire the needed personnel and participate in an incredible accelerator program.
Laura spent about 12 years researching how to design social robots to help kids overcome learning barriers. She realized the incredible potential of personalized, social interactions to heighten engagement, improve cognitive gains and overcome common challenges that adversely affect learning. During her research career, Laura worked with clinicians, interventionists, cognitive and developmental psychologists and educators to develop robots that complemented and supported their work. She learned a lot about how they personalized their approach based on the individual student and also learned some of the effective techniques that helped kids overcome their learning challenges. When Laura looked for technologies in the market that were sufficiently flexible or extensible to meet the diverse needs of those students, she didn't find anything suitable and saw an opportunity; founded Van Robotics.
Laura envisions that AI-enabled instructional technology is just now really emerging in the market. Technologies like ABii that are capable of adjusting instruction to accommodate the personal learning habits of students and deliver highly engaging social interactions will become a powerful tool for accelerating learning in the increasingly global classroom. Moreover, because young students are already regularly exposed to advanced technologies, highly successful educational technologies will also give students access to robust tools to actively participate and shape their own personal learning journeys.
She believes that providing extensible platforms that support diverse subject matter and encourage the discovery and exploration of how AI, machine learning and big data work is imperative for the next generation and must be included as part of the learning landscape. Van Robotics' core mission is to deliver extensible social robot platforms that make on-demand, personalized instruction available to students across the globe and ensure easy extensibility of the content offering.
Laura believes transformational leaders should possess a vision that includes three characteristics: imminently feasible, massively useful, and ultimately sustainable. Once the vision is set, they then must show conviction, persistence and resourcefulness.
Further, advising emerging women leaders, Laura says, "Before you get started, put in the time to acquire expert knowledge about your product or service – both from a company leader's perspective and an investor's perspective – and then be resourceful as you execute each milestone. There is no single formula for a successful startup. Blaze your own trail."
