A "window" to develop children's creativity and expand their world! The "popIn Aladdin"

On April 27, 2020, the "popIn Aladdin 2" went on sale, with significantly improved performance over the original model. The product series has attracted the attention of gadget lovers in Japan since its launch in 2018, and was originally designed for "families with children. In fact, on the company's website, you can see PVs of the "popIn Aladdin" in action in various scenes of families with children. The babytech.jp editorial staff interviewed Mr. Cheng Tao, President of popIn Corporation, the developer of the "popIn Aladdin" (titles below omitted), to learn more about the product, its development process, and future plans.

(We spoke to...)

popIn, Inc.　representative director (i.e. someone chosen by the board of directors from among the directors to actually represent the company)
Mr. Cheng Tao

The "popIn Aladdin" concept transcends the boundaries of TVs and conventional projectors.

Editorial:Thank you for your time today. Could you begin by giving us an overview of the "popIn Aladdin" and its features?

About:The "popIn Aladdin" is a "3-in-1 ceiling light" that incorporates a "high-performance projector" and "high-quality sound speakers" into a "ceiling light," a common lighting fixture installed in the ceilings of Japanese houses. What is unique about this product is that most of the interior and children's digital content built into the "popIn Aladdin" is our original This means that the content is our original content.

Appearance of the "popIn Aladdin 2

Editorial:So it's not just a "projector" that projects "TV," "YouTube," or "Netflix."

About:That's right. Of course it can be used for those purposes, but we are most focused on providing content for children, such as family photos, beautiful landscapes, and storytelling. We have an app called "Why are plant leaves green? and "Why are they green? and "learning posters" that can be projected on the wall to help children learn letters and numbers. This is because we initially thought that the main target of "popIn Aladdin" would be "families with children from infancy onward.

Contents that answer children's questions are also available.

Furthermore, the concept of the "popIn Aladdin" is to "make life with a big screen a reality. Today, many households have TVs, but even so, few have TVs larger than 60 inches. This is not only because of price, but also because there is no space for a large-screen TV in the living environment. The "popIn Aladdin," which doubles as a ceiling light and can be installed in the ceiling, can solve this problem.

Furthermore, we consider "popIn Aladdin" not just a projector, but a "wall of the future. For example, this means that we will provide content tailored to the scenes of daily life, such as an exhilarating view from an airplane flying above the clouds in the morning, a warm family photo during the daytime, and soothing healing images and music at night. These are the features of "popIn Aladdin.

There is also the experience of being "above the clouds" beyond the walls!

A unique "world view" created by the fusion of "projector" and "software

Editorial:Can you tell us more about the advantages of the "popIn Aladdin" over TVs and regular projectors?

About:There are advantages in both software and hardware. The first advantage in software is the existence of our original content. Any large-screen TV has a "frame" at the edge of the screen. Projectors, on the other hand, do not have a "frame" and can express images that blend into the wall, so we provide a variety of original content that takes advantage of this feature. And such original content is not usually included in the products of projector manufacturers. I believe this is possible because we are a "software development manufacturer.

Another hardware feature is the "Aladdin Remoless. This is a device that allows users to turn on/off lights, operate the projector, search for content, etc. using voice input. I introduced the device because I thought that even children who cannot properly operate a remote control could easily use "popIn Aladdin" with voice input. In fact, my children are using voice input to access various contents. Since we are a software company, we outsource the design and manufacture of the hardware.

Editorial:Because your company is a software company, you are able to provide "original content" that maximizes the characteristics of the projector, especially "content for children.

About:That's right. In fact, the hardware part can be easily copied. However, we believe that the "customer experience" and "worldview" that we create by combining the "popIn Aladdin" with software cannot be easily copied. We will continue to pursue the endless possibilities of software, and eventually aim to make "popIn Aladdin" an indispensable "home appliance" (refrigerator, washing machine, air conditioner, microwave oven, etc.) that people use every day.

The struggle to create the "popIn Aladdin" in the developer's home

Editorial:I could see that the "popIn Aladdin" is a more unique product than I had imagined. Can you tell us how you developed this product?

About:The impetus for developing "popIn Aladdin" came from my three children. They were 5, 3, and 1 years old at the time, and I was always concerned that when they accessed tablets and smartphones at home, they might encounter unwanted content without their parents' knowledge (......). So I began to wonder what kind of devices would allow them to safely access digital content at home and expand their children's world. My first clue came from the "educational posters for learning letters and numbers" that are posted on the walls of many homes. These are important things that children can learn through natural contact with them in their daily lives, and sometimes they also serve as conversation starters for the family. So we thought that if we could use digital devices to project different things on the wall each day, we could expand children's worlds.

I immediately thought, "Why not just get a projector that can project content onto the wall!" I immediately bought a home projector and gave it a try. I immediately bought a home-use projector and gave it a try. I installed almost all of the home-use products available on the market at the time in various places around the house. But as a result, my wife was very angry with me (laughs). She said, "You're getting in the way! She said, "You are in the way! Home appliances such as TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, etc. have their own places, and no one would think that they are in the way. However, a projector is not an "appliance" but a "gadget" for hobbyists, and it has no fixed place to be placed. However, it is a hassle to take the projector in and out every day, and the purpose of always having digital content projected on the wall cannot be realized.

So, when I was thinking about where on earth I could install a projector without disturbing ......, I suddenly removed the ceiling light from the ceiling. I found a "hook-and-loop" ceiling light that could be attached to the ceiling by simply rotating it with a "click. I think this is a great invention in Japanese housing equipment (such equipment does not exist in China, Europe, or the United States. (This type of lighting fixture does not exist in China, Europe, or the United States, where special construction is required to install lighting.) Moreover, upon investigation, I found out that this hook-and-loop ceiling can withstand a weight of up to 5 kg. So, I first tried to hang the "light" and the "projector" at home in combination with a rail for lighting fixtures. The result was a great success. My wife and I and our children were very satisfied with the power of the digital content on the large screen that only a projector can provide. After about six months of trial and error, we thought, "Could we commercialize this?" After about six months of trial and error, we came up with the "popIn Aladdin.

PopIn Aladdin" for the whole family to enjoy

Editorial:Thank you. Can you tell us the origin of the name "popIn Aladdin"?

About:Named after "Aladdin's Magic Lamp" with the hope of providing such a magical experience that when you enter a room, you do not know where the screen is projected from or where the sound is coming from.......

What is the reputation of the popIn Aladdin among families with children? ......

Editorial:So the "popIn Aladdin" is truly a product created for children.

About:The "popIn Aladdin" also has a "child mode". This mode allows access only to content that can be used safely. The large screen of the "popIn Aladdin" allows parents to quickly check what content their children are watching, but this child mode is still very popular, with 95% of purchasers in our survey using it.

Editorial:Who are the buyers?

About:Almost half of the buyers are in their 30s. When the number of buyers in their 20s and 40s is added, the total is approximately 94%. Half of the buyers are married, and half of them have children. We also suspect that many of these families have relatively high annual incomes and need to improve their quality of life, as many of them own high-spec appliances such as Barmuda, Dyson, and Roomba. The "popIn Aladdin" has sold more than 80,000 units so far since its launch in November 2018, and we estimate that it has a market share of about 50% in Japan as a home projector.

Editorial:What kind of feedback have you received from families with children from infants and toddlers?

About:Two major comments have been received. The first is that thanks to the "popIn Aladdin" installed in their bedrooms, children are getting into bed promptly at night. The "popIn Aladdin" is focused on this point, and has a special picture book content called "Goodnight Roger" that is read to children when they fall asleep. Furthermore, since "popIn Aladdin" watches images projected on the wall, what enters the eyes is reflected light. In other words, light from the device does not directly enter the eyes as it does with TVs, smartphones, and tablets. Furthermore, "popIn Aladdin" is designed to be viewed before going to bed, so the brightness is adjusted to be lower than that of a regular projector. As a result, the amount of blue light that interferes with sleep is very low.

Set light intensity with consideration for bedtime

The second comment was that it is very helpful for the children to watch the "popIn Aladdin" when their father or mother is doing chores and not be interrupted. Others commented that their children were very happy when they viewed photos from family vacations or trips to the park on the big screen together as a family. I believe that viewing photos alone on a small smartphone or tablet and viewing them together with the family on a large screen are very different, both in terms of the power and the communication that is created.

Family memorable photos on the big screen

Continue to focus on developing "content that stimulates children's creativity

Editorial:Has "popIn Aladdin" been used in any nursery schools?

About:We are currently conducting joint research with the Center for Developmental Childcare Practice and Policy (Cedep), affiliated with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Tokyo. The theme is "Possibilities for Childcare and Early Childhood Education Using Digital Media," and we are conducting experiments at kindergartens and nursery schools in Tokyo. The introduction of ICT in kindergartens and nursery schools is still in its infancy, and even now there is a debate about whether or not it is acceptable to provide children with tablets. In this respect, we have received comments that "popIn Aladdin" is safe and very useful for childcare because it displays images on a large screen, and we are now experimenting with various ways to utilize it. For example, during the Tanabata Festival, "popIn Aladdin" is used to project the Milky Way (galaxy) on the wall, to take pictures of children's daily activities and project them on the wall, and to use "popIn Aladdin" to display something on a large screen when observing it through a microscope. The "popIn Aladdin" is also used to display pictures on the wall. By working on something like this, which could not be done in nursery schools and kindergartens until now, the children were very happy and it became an opportunity to communicate with children who did not speak much before. ...... These research results were presented as a paper at the Japanese Society for Children's Studies 15th Conference on Children's Studies and received an award for best presentation. We believe that digital media is not bad for children, but how to optimize it is our challenge.

Editorial:So there is a need for ICT technology optimized for children.

About:There are many possibilities for both the "content" and "usage" provided by "popIn Aladdin. At the beginning of our joint research, our objective was to provide "learning content," but now we believe that our main goal is to stimulate and nurture children's "creativity" through the use of digital media. To this end, for example, we produced a "life-size illustrated animal book," which is content that is not easily realized in books or on TV, and children's reactions were completely different. This content has truly brought out the creativity of the children, as they imitate the animals and play with them as if they were animals. And it doesn't end there. Through such experiences, it has become a catalyst for action, such as "Let's go see a real elephant this weekend! This is a trigger for action. We want to make digital media something that encourages children to venture out into the world, rather than something that confines them.

It can also project life-size animals.

Editorial:Finally, what do you have in mind for the future development of "popIn Aladdin"?

About:I think the key is to "popularize a lifestyle with a large screen. To this end, we have developed a low-priced model called the "popIn Aladdin SE. In addition to the "life-size animal book" I mentioned earlier, a "life-size clothing catalog," a "life-size insect book," or even a "photo book reproducing actual locations" would also be interesting. We will continue to pursue the provision of new content made possible by such large screens.

After the interview

Sometimes I see videos of the "popIn Aladdin" on websites, and I have been curious about it for some time. However, I thought it must be an expensive gadget for "single aristocrats" or "childless couples" (......), and thought it was something that families with children could not relate to. However, through this interview, I have come to think that families with children should be the ones to introduce this gadget. I have come to think that families with children are the ones who should introduce it. It is worrisome to show children TVs, tablets, and smartphones all the time, and digital devices like the "popIn Aladdin" that are designed with children in mind are safer. Why don't you take this opportunity of the coming Christmas to consider purchasing one?

popIn Aladdin" official website
https://aladdin.popin.cc/