apps Tag

Augmented Reality to Increase User Engagement

24 Oct 2016, Posted by Sarina Simon in Children's Media, Distance Learning, Edtech, electronic books, English as a Second Language, instructional design, kids' media, Learning Science, Mobile App Development, Uncategorized

For some time now my colleagues, most of whom are younger and hipper than me, have been extolling the virtues of Augmented Reality.  And they are not alone.  Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, recently stated that he felt AR would be bigger than VR. And most market analysts agree that AR is going to become a huge market opportunity, topping $120 B by 2020. The recent success of Pokemon Go with 100MM downloads worldwide, has made consumers more aware of AR but some would argue that Pokemon Go does not really use AR technology.  That’s an argument that I can’t…

Jeancarlo Ascorra: A Peruvian Artist with North and South American Sensibilities

10 Jun 2014, Posted by Sarina Simon in Animation, Expert Interviews, Game Design, Graphic Design, HTML5, kids' media, Mobile App Development

Jeancarlo Ascorra Jeancarlo Ascorra is the Art Director at, NorthSouth Studios (yes—my company), and has been for the last ten years.  We were very lucky to find Jeancarlo, an artist who knows how to straddle two cultures and bring the both of best to his work. His very first job for us called for Disney-style illustration and we (and our client) were blown away by his talent. Before joining NorthSouth, Jeancarlo had eight years of Art Direction experience, with expertise in graphic design, creativity, illustration and advertising. Previously he worked at BBDO in Peru and freelanced at many other advertising…

Mobile Apps and Kids, or Plus ça change?*

25 Dec 2013, Posted by Sarina Simon in kids' media, Mobile App Development

ust when I was beginning to feel that mobile apps have truly changed the way kids learn and play, a former colleague who hasn’t worked in the learning space for years gave me pause to reflect. We were catching up when she mentioned she’d been contacted to write a script for a fun learning app for a major developer.  She added that she was not up to date with technology and didn’t know if she could do it. I sent her a list of popular apps and told her to take a look.  To my surprise, she called me in…