Leka

Leka is a Paris-based company that develops a playful learning solution for people with neurodevelopmental disorders and disabilities, combining an iPad application with a robotic companion and accompanying accessories such as RFID-tagged "magic cards". The application gives professionals access to a library of educational content organised into thematic pathways, educational games, stories and "controllers", with activities mapped to roughly twenty target skills including association, attention, communication, generalization, counting, empathy, emotion recognition, gross motor skills, inhibition, memory, sensory integration, self-regulation, self-awareness, social interactions, spatial and time understanding, and turn taking. Difficulty is adjustable across four levels defined by the number of on-screen response options (one, two, four or six).

The robot acts as a motivator and as a mediator in the relationship between the supported person and the professional. It provides sensory stimulation through coloured lights, vibrations, rotations and movement, displays expressive faces and visual instructions on a screen, reads RFID tags to interact with themed accessories, moves forward, backward and side to side on wheels, and recharges on an induction base. Its casing is smooth, edge-free and made of thick plastic; the company states the device has passed durability testing including ten consecutive one-metre drops and being thrown down stairs. Example activities include Color Bingo, Dance Freeze, Melody and Super Simon, alongside progressive curriculums on emotion recognition, rooms of the house and animal recognition.

Leka positions the product as a tool rather than a therapy model, compatible with play-based behavioural and developmental approaches such as ABA, the Early Start Denver Model, 3i, Floortime, Play Therapy, TEACCH and PECS, and explicitly states it does not replace the caregiver. Earlier company material described Leka as developing an educational robotic game for children with motor, intellectual, behavioural and social difficulties, then at prototype stage.

Business model

Leka sells its solution to professionals and institutions in the medico-social, education and healthcare sectors, which acquire the robotic companion and its accessories; families can also obtain it on the recommendation of a medico-social professional. The iPad application itself is offered as a free download, with new pathways, games, controllers and stories added on an ongoing basis.

Traction

The company reports testing of its product in specialised centres in France and use in daycare centres and nurseries, and publishes user testimonial videos. An earlier company profile cited a successful pre-order campaign on Indiegogo and international press coverage.