Kenji Developer

Inspiration & Motivation

When my sister recently had a baby, I got to see up close how tricky it is for families to help young children learn new words. Keeping kids engaged, getting them to pay attention, and making learning less stressful for adults isn’t always straightforward.

Watching my family’s experience, I started to think:
Could an interactive game—with playful visuals and voice guidance—make learning more fun and effective for children, while also helping adults teach more easily?

This idea led me to create a small AR educational game prototype. The main goal: use clear audio prompts and positive feedback to support early learning and keep children motivated.

Game Design & Core Flow

This game centers around voice-guided prompts and simple AR visuals. Users (parents or kids) can choose between English and Japanese for the interface. Each round, the game plays a voice instruction or target word out loud, and the child can listen, respond, or repeat the word as they like.

Note:
The system does not require or process any user speech input. All audio is one-way: the game speaks, and the player listens or reacts.

Language Switching UI Example

🇬🇧 English

🇯🇵 Japanese

These screenshots show the language toggle, allowing easy practice in English or Japanese.

Main Gameplay Steps

The game displays a target word/image and plays the corresponding voice prompt.
The child can listen, repeat, or react as they wish.
The system then provides a positive or corrective audio feedback—again, using pre-recorded voice clips and sound effects.

Feedback Design: Visual & Audio

Correct actions or participation: The game plays a cheerful animation and encouraging sound effect.

Positive feedback example

Missed or incorrect actions: The system plays a friendly, supportive voice clip, to keep the mood light and avoid frustration.

Encouragement for mistakes

These features help make the learning experience positive and motivating, focusing on effort and engagement.

Technical Highlights

All voice prompts and feedback are managed by VoiceManager.cs, which handles:

Playing instructional voice prompts and encouragement in the selected language
Switching between English and Japanese audio assets
Randomizing positive and corrective feedback soundscsharp

public class VoiceManager : MonoBehaviour
{
    public AudioSource audioSource;
    public AudioClip[] EN_Prompts, JP_Prompts;
    public int currentLang; // 0 = EN, 1 = JP

    public void PlayPrompt(int index)
    {
        AudioClip[] clips = currentLang == 0 ? EN_Prompts : JP_Prompts;
        if (index >= 0 && index < clips.Length)
        {
            audioSource.PlayOneShot(clips[index]);
        }
    }

    public void PlayNumberAudio(int numIndex, AudioClip[] EN, AudioClip[] JP)
    {
        AudioClip clip = currentLang == 0 ? EN[numIndex] : JP[numIndex];
        audioSource.PlayOneShot(clip);
    }

    public void PlayFeedback(bool correct, AudioClip[] EN_Correct, AudioClip[] JP_Correct, AudioClip[] EN_Wrong, AudioClip[] JP_Wrong)
    {
        AudioClip[] list = correct
            ? (currentLang == 0 ? EN_Correct : JP_Correct)
            : (currentLang == 0 ? EN_Wrong : JP_Wrong);

        int r = UnityEngine.Random.Range(0, list.Length);
        audioSource.PlayOneShot(list[r]);
    }
}

This code sample manages all voice prompts and feedback playback logic.

Full Gameplay Demo

See the game in action :

Development Insights & Reflections

This project began with a real-world challenge: making it easier and more fun for both children and adults to engage in early language learning. The design focused on:

Simple and friendly UI, with clear audio prompts in multiple languages
Immediate, positive feedback for every attempt
Minimizing frustration—never punishing mistakes, always encouraging effort

Key takeaways:

Voice guidance (even without speech input) can capture children’s attention and help structure learning sessions
Positive audio/visual feedback keeps kids motivated and parents less stressed
The more intuitive and direct the user flow, the better the experience for both adults and children

With more real-world testing and feedback from parents/educators, I hope to further refine this approach for AR learning games.

Closing Thoughts

This prototype grew out of a real-life family need, aiming to use technology to make learning easier and more enjoyable for everyone involved.
If you’re interested in AR, voice-guided apps, or early childhood learning, I’d love to connect and share insights!

For technical details, design notes, or demo requests, feel free to leave a comment or get in touch!

KENJIDEV