scintilla.ai
Brain-Friendly
Game-First
Effortless Progress
Starting up
There is an issue with traditional spaced retrieval algorithms: they are designed in very restrictive and inflexible ways, expecting users of spaced retrieval applications (such as Duolingo) to adapt to the specifics of the algorithm. These algorithms are enormously effective, but despite this, most users give up after one or two months. The relentless rigidity of the algorithm is simply too hard to keep up with. So, we decided to fix this. We built an improved spaced retrieval AI that adapts to each user’s cognitive skills, preferences, background, and learning habits. You no longer have to subject yourself to the demands of an algorithm, but you can still reap the benefits.
We decided to build an application for schools around our AI, secured seed funding, and founded scintilla.ai in 2018.
Igniting a Spark
In 2019, we launched Spark, our first application. It has been used in 40 schools by 10,000 users. Children picked up knowledge much faster and retained it for much longer. We also provided insights into the learning experience with brilliant charts showing that 90 minutes on the application produced three times more knowledge and up to 18 times longer retention.
There were gold nuggets in the feedback we received. Spark comes with a simple and naive game. Ninety per cent of all users opted to play this maze game, where answering questions opens gates rather than working through flashcards. Despite its simplicity, players loved the game. They constantly asked for feature updates. Some children even played it outside school hours for fun.
Let this sink in: Kids did voluntary homework for fun. It certainly was not the core game idea alone that achieved this.
It turned out that the AI makes the game a lot better.
First, it keeps players on their toes, always asking challenging questions. It never gets boring or too hard. It paces players well and they get better at the game in their own time. The AI adapts to cognitive skills and makes the game brain-friendly. Second, the experience is game-first. It provides a safe sandbox where getting quiz questions wrong is not a failure. It is a necessary and expected part of a coherent game experience. And third, progress is effortless. Doing flashcards is hard work, and you get tired after a few minutes. Doing them in a maze quiz lowers intensity. It lets you relax when you need it. You can take your mind off for a moment, spend some time finding gold coins in the maze and not answer questions for a while. This way, you can play for hours without getting tired.
Meteocraft
It became obvious: Spark was a great first step in the right direction, but what we needed was a great game with a learning platform inside, not a learning platform with a game inside!
We had to change our technology stack and start building on a game engine. For the next year, we worked with the OU using a proper gaming platform: Minecraft. We created Meteocraft, a meteorite mod. You can find meteorites in snow biomes (as you do in the real world), you can build a lab to research them, conduct experiments, learn to spot the difference between a meteorite and a terrestrial rock, and much more.
The experience in Meteocraft is hands-on, deep, and very different from flashcards. Our Spark data shows that you need about 10 revisions until knowledge sinks in. But you play through Meteocraft once or twice and the new knowledge sticks.
We were missing another trick. By creating a deeper initial experience, we can harmonise AI with the human mind even more. This way, we can get away with only 2-3 revisions instead of 10. You can make progress even quicker with a lot less effort.
Sproc’s History Quiz
But a deep experience is rather slow. Going to Antarctica to find a meteorite, bringing it into a laboratory, cutting it open, and analyzing it takes many months. Even in a virtual environment, it takes a few hours.
However, there are other ways to memorize without a lot of revision. Memory champions use memory tricks to achieve their astonishing feats. Using memory palaces, they can memorize a deck of cards in under a minute (the world record is just under 14 seconds) or dozens of fictitious dates in only five minutes (the world record is 241) and remember them for a few days. If you use Spark without memory tricks, memorizing 241 events will take about two hours.
We decided to create a game that combines AI, deep experiences, and memory tricks. We chose a professional game engine (Unity) to build Sproc’s History Quiz. In this game, you are in charge of a time machine and get to travel to hundreds of historic events. The game is full of imagery, fun facts, and narratives. It also allows you to create and share simple memory palaces. In a few hours of effortless gameplay, you can memorize details and dates of hundreds, if not thousands, of historic events—and remember them for many years.
Knights of the Times Tables
We were approached by a customer to build a times table game that incorporates some of our core principles.
In Knights of the Times Tables, you explore a castle and use memory tricks to help you remember times table calculations. The game is full of imagery and offers numerous incentives to practice mental arithmetic.
Unlike remembering dates and facts, mastering times tables is not just about memorization; it also involves skill. But just as memory needs revision, skills need practice to sink in. We are excited to see the data Knights of the Times Tables will produce and believe that there will be differences in skill and knowledge acquisition.
With factual knowledge, memory strength increases steadily. Every revision adds a little, and if well-timed, it adds a lot. With skills, we expect “penny drop” moments that affect multiple questions, where memory strength suddenly shoots up for all of them. For example, once you understand how the 11s work, you will instantly recall the answers to 9 questions.
Quizterix
Apart from memory champions, hardly anyone is familiar with standard memory tricks, so we decided to create a tangible card game to give a gentle introduction for beginners.
In Quizterix, you build a timeline of historic events and you get familiar with the von Restorff effect. Funny, gross and absurd things are easier to remember than mundane facts. Also, words and phrases are much easier than numbers and dates, so you learn how to use the major mnemonic system to encode numbers in words.
In this hilarious and frantic game players memorize 52 historic events and get familiar with 7 fundamental tricks of memory champions.
The Hundred
We are now ready to scale our ambition. We will build The Hundred, a game that has all the elements to make players engage for many months and years. It will be content agnostic and work for old and young. You can play it in school or just for fun. With the help of the scintilla.ai you will soak up new knowledge like a sponge. It will be a game-first, brain-friendly effortless way for everyone to make progress in their own time.
We will build an MMORPG with a learning platform in it. You will build heroes and dragons and you will take them into epic battles. There will be quests and guilds. And most of all, there will be lots of quizzing.
We have secured a game studio with a great track record to build The Hundred. We are now looking for investors to build the game to the highest possible standard. We want it to be competitive in the MMORPG market and attract millions of players. For this, we will launch a solid marketing campaign and start building a passionate community.
Become a part of this community!
Contact alan@scintilla.ai for more information.