Filipe Duarte Pina

Smart Monkey details

Main role: Designer
Secondary roles: Team Leader / Art Director
Year: 2015
Platform: Android, iOS, Windows Phone
Support: Digital / Smartphones and Tablets
Production: 7 months
Developer: Science4you S.A.
Publisher: Science4you S.A.

Presentation

Smart Monkey was launched in Portugal in November 2015. It is a plush toy that can connect with your mobile device through bluetooth. The App is free to download but only works when connected to the monkey. It is recommended for ages 2-6 but of course anyone can use it. It include 5 musics, 5 stories and several games to educate kids on numbers and the alphabet. It also includes a parents section with IAPs like extra music, stories and gear for the monkey.

International trailer

Main features
Smart Monkey includes five stories that were based on original tales like the 3 little pigs and red riding hood. Each story has it’s own illustrations, voices, music and sound effects. There are five music tracks, all recorded from scratch specifically for Smart Monkey. Two of them are originals.
There are also five different games. One with numbers from zero to nine, another with letters from A to Z, an animals game, a colors game and some simple puzzles.

Everything was done and recorded in Portuguese so an update to English or Spanish would be expensive. Let’s hope my good friends at Science4you realize the cool potential of this toy and decide to invest in other markets 🙂

Technical details
The most complex aspect of the App was the bluetooth connection with the toy. Since it supports iOS, Android and Windows Phone, André had to search for solutions for each platform independently. In the end, we had to compromise with a few things to make sure everything worked fine.

Development

The Smart Monkey App was created by a group of 3 (counting myself) and the monkey was assembled in China and shipped to Portugal. The Science4you team took care of all logistics like contacts, manufacturing, box design, shipment etc.
My idea was to create an App that would feel like part of the toy itself, with bright colors and the plush texture. And since this was destined for kids, all of the menus and sections were made without any text, only graphics, animation and the monkey voice. The parents section and the first connection menu is the only exception.

Like with every Science4you App, the C.O.P.P.A rules were included which means the parents section is secured with a password and all the links are locked behind a simple mathematical equation.

Team

Note: this list does not include the testers, translators and other QA services

Production: Miguel Pina Martins
Game design / Art direction: Filipe Duarte Pina
Programming: André Silva
Art: Uriel Cordas
Stories: Ana Garcia
Coordination: Daniela Silva
Smart Monkey voice: Flávia Leitão

Music / writing and lyrics: Maria Mónica
Music / sound and composition: João Mascarenhas
Voices: Flávia Leitão, Eduardo Brito, Daniela Silva, Marcos Rebelo, Jorge Faria
Marketing: Eduardo Brito and Cátia Gil

Curiosities

The electronics inside the monkey is actually just a normal bluetooth device slightly changed to meet our specifications. This means you can actually use the plush toy as a normal bluetooth device for your phone! Ever wondered how it would like to answer your phone with a monkey? Wonder no more.

Links

Science4you – http://www.science4you.pt/
Smart Monkey – http://www.science4you.pt/smart-monkey

Get it on
App Store – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pt.s4y.smartmonkey
Google Play – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pt.s4y.md&hl=pt_PT
Windows Phone – https://www.microsoft.com/pt-pt/store/apps/smart-monkey-science4you/9nblggh5zb9g