An AI-enabled demo from concept to functional model in just 2 weeks
Highlights
- From idea to proof of concept in just a few weeks
- Enables parents to improve learning outcomes for their young children
- Babbly team closed a successful pre-seed investment round with machine learning PoC
The challenge
One in ten children have difficulty with their language development. Many of these children remain undiagnosed and untreated as they enter pre-school, leading to long-term difficulties with learning.
Babbly’s founder Maryam Nabavi wanted to improve language development outcomes in a way that would be simple and accessible for busy parents.
Maryam Nabavi (CEO) and Shane Saunderson (Co-Founder) from Babbly and Ryan Marchildon and Jan Scholz from Rangle.
The core problem
Helping parents understand and measure their child’s development could mean children receive the support they need before they enter the school system. To build their app, the Babbly team first needed a proof-of-concept algorithm.
The process
In two weeks, our AI team built a machine learning algorithm for Babbly. The algorithm identified infant vocalization events, such as crying and babbling, and could distinguish them from adult speech. This speech recognition algorithm became the foundation for Babbly’s AI-powered app. The app enables parents to assess and monitor their children's cognitive development.
The proof-of-concept demo in action, showing speech classification on audio clips never previously seen by the algorithm. The demo was used by Babbly to support investor pitches and demonstrate the viability of their product.
Lean AI
Using a lean approach, we were able to deliver a working algorithm, together with a browser-based UI for a demo, in just a few weeks. The team synthesized a training dataset to reduce data labelling time, a potentially time-consuming process.
As part of our values and our commitment to Babbly, our team also provided a seamless handoff with code assets for easy updating and retraining of the AI model. This allowed the Babbly team to make improvements and iterate on their initial concept. Learning from the groundwork of our expert AI team, Babbly’s developers have a framework for processes and delivery that keeps them focused on outcomes.
Working with Rangle helped us avoid a lot of the early mistakes we could have made and put us on a fast track towards launching our product.”
Maryam Nabavi, CEO & Founder of Babbly
The outcome
Babbly built their AI-powered speech recognition and learning app. Our support helped Babbly accelerate the growth of their internal machine learning practice, and do additional model development independently. With our partnership, Babbly’s team has developed the necessary skills to grow and expand their work and their app.
Maryam Nabavi accepts the people’s choice award for best pitch at the ElevateR Pitch competition at Elevate Toronto.
With the demo, Babbly:
- Closed a pre-seed financing round to help bring their product to life
- Were featured as one of Canada's most promising startups during their investor round
- Won multiple awards including the Elevate Tech best pitch award