- Choose from about 100 picture books from well-known publishers and listen to audio read aloud in all of them.
- Enjoy dubbing some of the lines in the picture book by themselves.
- Various innovations for "bedtime" are designed to support moms and dads.
Miimi" introduced this time is a picture book reading application with a professional narrator reading aloud to you. Not only is there an unlimited selection of about 100 picture books from famous publishers, but it is also possible to dub the lines yourself. This app won the Akachan Honpo Award in the BabyTech® Award Japan 2021. The BabyTech.jp editorial staff interviewed Ms. Natsuko Enomoto of Tokyo Gas Co. and Mr. Ryota Kato of Otobank Corporation (titles omitted), the developers of "Miimi," to learn more about the application, its development process, and future development.
(We spoke to...)
Tokyo Gas Co. Living Solution Technology Dept.
Natsuko Enomoto
Otobank Corporation Audiobook Division
Ryota Kato
The publisher's high-quality picture books became apps, creating a variety of possibilities.
Editorial:Thank you very much for your time today. Could you begin by giving us an overview of "Miimi" and its features?
Enomoto:Miimi is a storytelling app that lets you enjoy the world of picture books by ear and voice. 2019 marks the third year of the app's release. The target audience is children of appropriate age for picture books, with preschoolers in particular being the volume zone. The subscription fee is 500 yen per month, but all functions can be enjoyed free of charge for the first month after registration. The total number of downloads has exceeded 100,000 as of January 2022. There are three main features: The first is the distribution of many picture book titles from well-known publishers that are sold in bookstores. The second is that all of these titles have read-aloud audio. The third is that you can not only listen to the storytelling, but also play along by dubbing some of the lines as if it were karaoke.
Editorial:It is amazing to be able to enjoy not only original picture books, but also works that are actually sold in bookstores on your smartphone!
Enomoto:There are several "picture book reading apps" and "YouTube picture book reading channels," but I think the fact that we have picture book titles from famous publishers is a major feature of Miimi. We have selected such works because we want to expose our children to quality works as much as possible during their preschool years, which is an important time in raising children. We have also developed a picture book voice-over function with the idea that children will not just passively listen to the story, but will be able to actively engage with the story.
In addition, Miimi is used by many people in the "bedtime storytelling" scene, and there are some points that we are particular about with regard to this bedtime storytelling. First of all, as a storytelling application, it allows parents to enjoy picture books with their children. In a normal picture book, the guardian is the reader and the child is the listener ....... With Miimi, however, parents can enjoy picture books from the same perspective as their children, which means that they can communicate more closely with their children. Furthermore, Miimi is equipped with a function that allows the screen to be darkened, making it easier to enjoy reading to the child even in a dark bedroom. In addition, we are also working on delivering "works suitable for bedtime reading".
Editorial:How many people use Miimi for sleeping?
Enomoto:Data on the usage of Miimi shows that a significant number of users use it between 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., which is the time of bedtime. The demographics of Miimi users are 70% female and 30% male. I think it is possible that the application format has encouraged the participation of fathers who have not participated in paper storytelling before.
As a new initiative from January 2022, we are distributing sound files produced through thorough research on reading to children to help them fall asleep. We have begun distributing picture books with innovations such as so-called 1/f fluctuation sound and playing the child's fetal movements in the background.
Kato:In addition to the 1/f fluctuation sounds and womb sounds mentioned by Mr. Enomoto, we also incorporate daily life sounds known as white noise and pink noise. There are examples such as ......, where children stop crying and go to sleep when they hear the sound of a vacuum cleaner, and we are delivering picture books with sound elements that can be expected to have such effects. Incidentally, we are actually using it for our children.
Editorial:How is the effect?
Kato:He is zero years old, but when I use it to put him to sleep, he stops crying and sometimes falls asleep. I think it is quite effective.
Enomoto:We are currently distributing works such as "Okina Kabu" and "Jugemu Jugemu," which are marked as "Goodnight Mode" in the application.
Users benefit from unique "digital" features
Editorial:Still, it would be interesting for children to be able to dub lines from picture books with their own voices. ......
Enomoto:We wanted to provide a reading experience unique to apps, so we incorporated those digital mechanisms as well. This is not to deny paper picture books, but it is to suggest that this kind of experience can also be had when reading to a child on a smartphone. ......
We think that the voices of small children are very endearing to parents. We believe that Miimi may become an opportunity for parents to save such things and also a new way to enjoy listening to their children's voices together with their parents. Parents can also enjoy listening to picture book readings with their children, and be surprised and laugh along with their children. We believe that this could lead to a new way of enjoying picture books, in which parents can be surprised and laugh together with their children.
Editorial:Regarding the fact that the app contains about 100 picture books, I also get the impression that there are advantages similar to e-books, such as not having to buy many picture books and not needing storage space for picture books .......
Enomoto:We have received such feedback from users. In a city center apartment, there is also the problem of storage, and as the number of children increases, so does the amount of things they have.
Taking a cue from audiobooks for adults, the company is exploring the possibilities of picture book content.
Editorial:Can you tell us about the development process?
Enomoto:Tokyo Gas proposes a variety of services related to daily life. Recently, the voice market has begun to expand in Japan with the arrival of Amazon Echo and Google Home. We were discussing with Otobank, which was engaged in the audiobook business, about the possibility of providing a new service for families raising children (......), and we focused our attention on "picture books". While sales of books, magazines, and other publications have been declining across the board, picture book sales have remained constant despite the fact that the number of children is decreasing. In other words, picture books are very popular and high quality content among customers, and we thought that if we could deliver this content in audio format, we could contribute to solving the problems that customers face in their daily lives. Finally, the idea of picture book audiobooks was born, and after discussions about what features would please our customers, we decided to release the product.
Editorial:As an energy and infrastructure company that supports society, you have embarked on a business that supports all aspects of life.
Enomoto:We developed ...... to help reduce the burden of housework and childcare at home by using the item of picture books and voice to support bedtime routines and provide time for small household chores.
Editorial:Did you encounter any difficulties in the development of MIMI?
Enomoto:The dubbing function for picture books was technically challenging, as we had to decide which parts of the story could be dubbed and how to make it more enjoyable for children who cannot read. We also tested many times to see if the dubbing for small children could keep up with the next part of the narration.
Editorial:Did you have the children participate in that test?
Enomoto:We asked our employees who have children to help us research what speed is best for what age, and how they would use it. We also had a hard time selecting the books. Just because a book is a timeless classic does not necessarily mean that it will be a favorite book for children. We are still in constant discussions with our customers, gathering feedback from them.
Increase convenience in the bedtime scene and further expand usage scenarios.
Editorial:What is the feedback from users?
Enomoto:Some of the comments we have received include: "The contents are carefully selected for children, so I can show them with peace of mind," "I feel a sense of trust because the picture books are published by a publishing company," and "I enjoy comparing my own voice with a professional narrator's reading to the children. We have also received comments that they use "Miimi" for children with literacy difficulties.
Editorial:There is a function that allows users to convert their voice into a "robot-like" or "alien-like" voice.
Enomoto:Children like it very much. We often get comments that they just keep hitting the same button all the time.
Editorial:Finally, please tell us about the future development of Miimi.
Enomoto:We hope to gather more customer feedback and add various usage scenarios. First of all, we would like to help parents by focusing on bedtime routine, which is a major burden for many people. In my own child-rearing experience, putting a child to sleep was the last big battle in a day's child-rearing. Instead of making children cry or scolding them to go to bed early, I would like them to listen to "Miimi" and end the day with a smile. To achieve this, we would like to add and improve necessary contents and enhance suggestions on how to use the service.
However, we believe that there is room for growth in the value of "Miimi" in addition to sleep training. We are also considering adding content for scenes other than bedtime routines and making further improvements. We would like to continue to provide a variety of values, such as deepening parent-child communication and enhancing children's imagination.
After the interview
Many parents must have experienced the pain of having to read many picture books to their children when putting them to bed. I felt that "Miimi," which turns such a painful time into an enjoyable time of communication between parent and child, was chosen by Akachan Honpo employees who know the problems of many parents and children. At night, the light from the phone can be bothersome, but the screen automatically darkens in that area as well, so you can use the device with peace of mind. By all means, please try downloading it as a good-luck charm!
Mimiimi" Official Web Site
https://miimi-app.jp/
