Q&A With Herokins CEO, Paolo Debellini! @WorldOfHerokins

(Click here to see my few Review.)

Recently I had the opportunity to Review Herokins App & Kids Interactive Watch. The beta was just released, and I see so much positivity in this product.  Herokins is completely Gift Guide worthy! I can't wait for more Story Quests.  Here are some Questions I asked the Herokins CEO, Paolo Debellini, and his answers.

Q: Will there be more characters than McRed? Like General. Grey instead. ​

A: We're planning to create additional characters​ in the future. And General Grey will be one of the first! For now McRed and Dr. Rose are the only physical characters but there will are a lot of friends, companions, sidekicks and of course villains in the planning. We're as eager as you to see a physical General Grey unit and we're already roaming about ideas.

 Q: What made them want to create an interactive comic book app? The finger print sync scenes are ingenious. 

A: The idea of creating an interactive comic book app with a physical impact derived from the very vision of our company. Our goal since day one has been very clear: Stories come first; stories are fun, they teach us through inspiration. ​ They are glue that gets us together. ​

My source of inspiration for Herokins comes from a very interesting event that happened to me a couple of years ago: I was hiking with my nephews. My nephew Stefano was very grumpy because my sister didn’t have time to provide him with the necessary attention. To calm him down I created a simple story/pretend play: there were villains trying to kidnap us and we needed an alternative route to reach the top of the mountain. With that, his mood flipped 180. He loved it so much, that to this day, we still play the same story, just with different variations. That day opened my eyes, and I asked myself: “ is there a way to bring stories into everyday situations? Is there a way that children can really have fun while also learning about the world around them?”. That’s when I created McRed, DrRose, and the world of Herokins. I wanted to create unique superheroes, who despite their superpowers, were imperfect, such that they could be easily relatable. I wanted to create a companion ​that says “ we need to figure this out together”. ​A toy that is more than a plastic shell and therefore can be a bonding element to parents and kids with this strong message of team work that's forgotten in our life sometimes. This was, when we came up with the Energy Ball and the two fingerprints. It's like a ritual kids can have with their parents. A tiny cooperation piece that is part of one big bonding experience.

Q: Will there be choices or alternate scenarios? Say a child doesn't want to clap, and doesn’t.

​A: In fact the decision of children will be very important for the storyline. ​The technical features of these two Herokins and the creative ways of using the data points they generate will give children their own personal adventure filled with their own personal decisions. Choices and alternate scenarios are a key element to these features.

Additional

I also thought the hiding behind the imagery tree scene was playful. Would love more of that! The interaction between the parent and child while reading the story lines made this fun.

​Thank you very much! We really appreciate the feedback! We're planning on including more real life interactions as the story are being written. Our beta testing and the reviews have shown that this part is not only the most fun and remembered it's also the most effective when it comes to learning. We're already working on many situations like this, and can't wait to show you when they're ready!