EYCLICK - Changing the Game: Interactive Projectors Revolutionize the Learning Experience

Since the COVID lockdowns, engaging youngsters, plugged into their smart devices, in their schooling has become more and more challenging. An inverse relationship between the pupil's level of excitement and his or her ability to pay attention is increasingly clear. The 19th-century teacher/blackboard/chalk triangle is of diminishing relevance. Recognizing this, school principals and teachers are open to new ideas. One key innovation is interactive games with both learning and educational content and this is where the Israeli company EyeClick Ltd. enters the picture. EyeClick's unique technology combines hard- and software, projecting interactive games on different surfaces and involving youngsters from kindergartners to teens in its interactive games. The company started out offering entertainment to children in fast-food chains and shopping malls. In the almost-two decades since, it has undergone impressive development. Today, it offers not only the most advanced interactive projection anywhere of hundreds of games, but also educational and therapeutic content for youngsters in schools and educational institutes worldwide.

"The educational content integrated into our games and projected from ceiling projectors conforms with Israel's national education curriculum and features the country's festivals and holidays," says EyeClick founder and CEO Ariel Almos. "Every youngster can thus connect with top-level learning, and become empowered by it, together with their teachers. Our hundreds of high-quality games not only educate, but also encourage physical, cognitive and social development in youngsters."

Almos cites a recent study at UCLA's Sports Lab in California. It shows that play via EyeClick products equates to moderate-intensity activity in a gym — and, as importantly, keeps students involved through sheer enjoyment.

EyeClick uses play for a new concept of education

Except that "this isn't a new concept," notes Almos. "Games have always been a fertile way for youngsters to acquire skills. The feedback we get shows us that EyeClick technology improves motor skills, helps develop memory and problem-solving. In motivating pupils to study and to understand what they learn, the technology allows them to realize their potential. "In my view, the change wrought by EyeClick is beyond technical and processual," he continues. "It is a move from passive to active learning, it makes uninvolved students cooperative, and enables teachers to transition from face-to-face to inclusive teaching."

Hundreds of top-quality animated games

Almos created EyeClick in 2005, following his service in elite Israel Defense Forces intelligence units and a hi-tech career, which included a stint in Silicon Valley. For him, establishing a company which combines high-tech and design was a dream come true. Drawn to design since he was a youngster, he developed interactive games for children as his final project at Jerusalem's Bezalel Academy of Art & Design and Tel Aviv's Camera Obscura School of Art. He then decided to leverage this experience to create a games experience for children. His vision was a new kind of play, drawing inspiration from neighborhood games of the 1980s with a technological twist bringing it into the 21st century.

"The basic idea was to allow youngsters to detach themselves from the screen using stimuli that make them move in space," he explains. "To do this, we integrated the familiar, beloved screen-world into the physical world in a way that combines pleasure, active play and social experience."

EyeClick's first products were taken up by large fast-food chains in Europe and the US. It became an authorized global supplier for McDonald's and Burger King, with whom it still works, along with IKEA, NASA, Disney and more.

To meet the demands of these major clients, EyeClick produced content, and the library it developed today comprises over 400 games. "We began with sports-based games — football, hockey," says Almos, "and progressed through puzzles and brain games to educational and therapeutic activities for a range of audiences. Every game offers quality animation, rich dynamics and an immersive experience."

Despite its success in global marketing giants, Almos decided to expand EyeClick's target audiences. The company began creating games for playgrounds and Family Entertainment Centers, kindergartens, schools, museums, pediatric waiting rooms and children's hospitals. The decision quickly proved itself. Today, there are thousands of EyeClick installations in kindergartens and schools, YMCAs and other community centers, daycare facilities, the scout movement and Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

A more recently addressed audience is the elderly, particularly those in nursing homes and assisted living. "This began during the COVID pandemic, when people were very isolated," says Almos. "Many older people suffered as much from the absence of activity and company as from the virus. Our interactive games encourage them to move, jiggle and communicate. We hear from care-team personnel that patients with dementia, who had rarely moved or reacted, wake up and start playing."
How are EyeClick's children's games tailored to adults?
"We recruited an expert team of gerontologists, therapists, content professionals and specialists in treating adults to develop appropriate games," says Almos. "One key difference is that for adults, the sensory experience is less present. The explosions and frantic graphics, which children love, are unsuitable for adults. A key similarity is that our games are essentially simple to play and interaction is intuitive. There's no need for joysticks, headsets are any other aid, which makes them particularly accessible for older audiences. Our games for older people have won several international awards for technologies that improve life for the elderly."

Creating and sharing content

EyeClick's current focus is assimilating educational and learning content into interactive games for schools and other educational institutions. Its team of world-renowned education experts are building content for pupils from kindergarten through high school in disciplines such as Israel's heritage, geography, mathematics, English, Arabic and more, all in conformity with the national educational curriculum.

"We approach this from the perspectives of both pupil and teacher," says Almos. "For pupils, we provide an integrated experience that's educational, fun and promotes physical and social interaction. For teachers, we provide an innovative modular work-tool from which they can select prepared educational content in any subject, and either use it as it is or adapt it. Or they can build their own lessons from scratch. Content can thus be expanded and enriched without limit."

With the entire system digital and available on the portal, teachers can share content — with the classes they teach, with colleagues, school administrators, parents and the growing community of the product-users.

"A vital, soon-to-be-realized goal is that pupils, too, will contribute to creating content, becoming partners in preparing interactive lesson-plans for their classmates," says Almos. "We've recently added an artificial intelligence tool to the content creation segment, allowing quick and easy insertion of new educational content. This is for any subject and any age, empowering pupils and turning them from passive to active partners in the learning process. We're talking here of a very significant change in the learning process."

What do teachers and pupils think of EyeClick?
"They love it!" says Almos. "Pupils are very enthusiastic about the games, and both teachers and administrators see how these games help turn every classroom into a smart classroom. They see them benefiting their pupils, enhancing their cooperation and flexibility, contributing to solving social problems, and introducing a resilience that upgrades the overall wellbeing of pupils. They're also happy with the wide library of content, both in Hebrew and Arabic, and particularly note improved language skills.

"Technically, our projectors make possible the transformation of any classroom, sports hall or auditorium into a collaborative learning space, that offers rich gaming experience and high interactivity," he continues. "Nor do schools need buy new equipment: existing classroom projectors can be converted into smart projectors and connected to our content portal. Our projector — a high-quality Epson laser — operates for years without need to replace a single lamp."

Who is using your system?
"It's in use in several dozen schools and educational centers in Israel and hundreds in the USA," says Almos. "We're an authorized supplier to the Israel Education Ministry, and our projectors can also be bought through GFN [GeForce NOW]."

Does EyeClick target children with special needs?
"This is among our defined aims," replies Almos. "Our system is already employed in a number of centers for children and teens with autism and other special needs. One association with which we work is Amichai, for people with developmental and physical disabilities. Another is Gan Betenuah, which manufactures educational-therapeutic sports equipment for occupational and physical therapy, special education and more. A third is the Anderson Center for Autism in the USA. We're seeing excellent results. "EyeClick's games work very well in special education, notes Almos. "There's something exciting in the immediate response of the children. Those with sensory problems often respond better to an action-result system, which encourages them to be more physically active."

Making the interactive experience accessible

Some 60 people work at EyeClick in Israel and the USA in development, management and marketing. The company also has a game development studio in Vietnam, where its talented and creative human capital and the institutes of higher education that support it have made it a leading global gaming powerhouse. To date, its interactive projectors are installed in over 80 countries worldwide — North and South America, Japan, China and Europe — and its cumulative sales volume tops $150 million. It has done this without venture capital funds, which displayed little initial interest. The sole exception was serial investor Guy Gamzu, who initially put in a few hundred thousand dollars. He later added to his investment, and others, such as Jonathan Colbert and Roy Oron, came on board.

In its almost-two decades, EyeClick has won many awards and is ranked among the leadingcompanies in its field. It appeared it Red Herring's top 100 companies of 2012 and Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Central Europe of the same year. It was named Outstanding Children's Product of the Year by Creative Child Magazine in 2012, and was among the elite technological companies cited in the McKnight's Excellence in Technology Awards 2021.

In hi-tech terms, you are already a veteran company. How do you see the company's future path? What is its vision?
"Educational products will become our flagship, while we continue developing our existing product-lines," says Almos. "Education fascinates me. I'm a great believer in educational games improving student achievement, while having fun and a social experience — and academic research backs this up. To me, this is a wonderful combination which answers one of the biggest challenges of today's education system. Youngsters in this post-COVID era are thirsting for a different learning experience, while their teachers are searching for new teaching models. I see enormous potential for building lesson-plans using interactive games. "All of this is happening at a time when education systems, in Israel and around the world, are undergoing major change — adapting themselves to their pupils' exposure to technology from a very young age," he continues. "Children are discovering technology's inherent power to improve their acquisition of academic and social skills. We increasingly understand that face-to-face classroom learning is no longer the best way to impart knowledge to pupils with diverse needs. Educational systems are opening up, accepting change and looking to the future. EyeClick thus meets a genuine teaching need. Teachers embrace our interactive games because they open to them new and creative possibilities as educators, thus upgrading the learning process. "In broad strokes, our vision is to make the interactive experience more accessible and more enjoyable for both children and adults, including youngsters on the spectrum and elderly people with dementia, and to do so at a price equal to every pocket. We'll continue producing unique and exciting content for all audiences to encourage learning, inspire and give enjoyment."

For more details >>
Email >>

Partnered with EyeClick