KUALA LUMPUR: InvestKL Corporation will be collaborating with Japanese artificial intelligence (AI)-backed edutech startup Toybox Creations and Technology (Toy Eight) to the Greater Kuala Lumpur (GKL) Live Lab programme.
GKL Live Lab was launched in April 2021 to position Greater KL as an innovative and creative smart city, acting as a testbed where foreign companies experimenting with new and disruptive ways to solve the most challenging problems in the world today can bring their ideas to life while collaborating with local players.
Sunway iLabs (iLabs Foundry) connected Toy Eight to two psychology researchers from Sunway University's School of Medical and Life Sciences, Dr Woo Pei Jun and Dr Wo Su Woan, who worked closely with Toy Eight's technical team for 12 weeks.
Toy Eight was also connected with local communities by iLabs Foundry, which also helped the startup gain access to new talent from Sunway University and conducted a pilot trial with Sunway Business Units, which included using Sunway City as a testbed for Toy Eight's innovations.
Chief executive officer (CEO) Muhammad Azmi Zulkifli said Toy Eight and Sunway University's co-developed edutech project is the latest addition to InvestKL's cohort of GKL Live Lab projects and yet another vote confidence in Greater KL as an innovation and creativity smart city.
"Companies are now reviewing their local and global business strategies due to the changes brought by Covid-19, resulting in many pivoting to prioritising innovation and digitalisation.
"GKL Live Lab incentivises these forward-looking companies to commit new or increases their investments in Greater KL," he said.
InvestKL said Toy Eight is currently developing an AI-based tool that democratises developmental assessment for preschoolers via a smartphone.
Designed by an ex-Nintendo game designer, it analyses children at play to understand their characteristics and strengths.
This is part of Toy Eight's collaboration with Sunway University, which aims to address socio-educational issues in Southeast Asia by making developmental assessment affordable and accessible whilst rapidly improving the understanding of child developmental levels in different communities and areas.
Toy Eight founder and CEO Masaki Ishibashi said GKL Live Lab resources were very helpful in developing and implementing an artificial intelligence (AI)-based assessment system aligned with Malaysia's practices, following the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education of Malaysia.
"We were able to obtain all the support needed to implement solutions to educational challenges in Southeast Asia by making full use of innovative technologies and precedent cases," he said.