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Ello , the AI reading companion that aims to support nipper shin to read , launched a unexampled mathematical product on Monday that allows kid to enter in the story - universe procedure .
Called “ Storytime , ” the new AI - powered feature helps kids generate personalised story by picking from a selection of setting , fiber , and plots . For instance , a story about a hamster key out Greg who perform in a endowment show in stunned distance .
nestling can select from gobs of command prompt , resulting in thousands of combinations .
Like Ello ’s even reading offering , the AI companion — a bright downhearted , well-disposed elephant — listens to the child take aloud and evaluates their speech to objurgate mispronunciations and drop word . If kids are shy how to enounce a sealed parole , they can tap on the question Deutsche Mark picture for extra assistant .
Storytime offers two reading selection : one mode where Ello and the referee take turns and another , easier mode for younger reader where Ello does most of the reading .
AI - assisted news report creation for kids is n’t a new construct . In 2022,Amazonintroduced its own AI creature that generate animated story for Thomas Kyd base on various themes and location , such as underwater adventures or enchanted forests . Other startup , likeScarlet PandaandStory Spark , have also joined in on this trend .
However , Ello believes its Storytime offering stands apart due to its proprietary , in advance AI system of rules that conform to a child ’s response , teach critical reading skills using phonics - establish strategies . The companyclaimsits technology outperforms OpenAI ’s Whisper and Google Cloud ’s speech API .
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In addition , the Storytime experience is tailored to the user ’s reading level as well as the hebdomadal lesson . For case , if Ello is helping a first - grader practice their “ ch ” speech sound that calendar week , the AI creates a story that strategically includes the words “ chair ” and “ cheer . ”
According to Ello , its engineering squad implemented safety measures to insure that the stories are suitable for nipper . The company spent several calendar month test the product with teacher , tiddler , and learn specialists . The initial version only allow baby to choose from a predetermine set of account options . However , the caller envisions a future looping where kid will have even more involvement in the process .
“ If a teacher creates an opened story with a child , they provide the [ building blocks ] through synergistic dialog . So , I guess it would look quite similar to that , ” Catalin Voss , carbon monoxide - father and CTO of Ello , tell TechCrunch . “ Kids prefer some safety rail at some level . It ’s the blank report problem . You expect a five - year - one-time , ‘ What do you want the story to be about ? ’ And they kind of get overwhelmed . ”
In addition to Storytime , the company also launched itsiOS appa few calendar month ago , expanding the reach of its AI reading coach to even more users . It was previously restrict to tablet , include iPads , Androidtablets , andAmazon .
With over 700,000 books read and tenner of one thousand of families served , Ello is priced at $ 14.99 / calendar month . Meanwhile , families receiving government assistance can access it for just $ 2.99 / month . Ello also partner with downhearted - income school to offer the subscription at no extra cost .
Additionally , Ello late made its library of decodable tike ’s book online for free .
