PRESS RELEASE: BrainCo STEM Kit set to challenge LEGO® Mindstorms® in Australian Schools
The AVR Lab is making STEM easily accessible with its new offering in Australia and New Zealand.
MELBOURNE, Australia, 7 September 2020 –The AVR Lab, a leading supplier of Augmented and Virtual Reality technology and services announces their partnership with BrainCo, bringing a new STEM entrant to the Australian and New Zealand school system.
As part of our Emerging Technology services, The AVR Lab has become a local distributer for BrainCo (brainco.tech) an American business at the forefront of STEM research. BrainCo also develops cognitive training technology products for education, fitness, and wellness. The BrainCo STEM Kit for schools is based on BrainCo’s prosthetic hand that won Time Magazine’s Top 100 Inventions of the Year in 2019 and is intent on providing the most affordable myoelectric prosthetic and give users the freedom to create any gestures they wish.
In a quick search of STEM products used in Australian Schools today, LEGO® and Mindstorms® appear in the majority; with good reason. LEGO® is an institution in many Australian homes and there is a natural progression to using it in the classroom. By adding a more human element into the mix, and by having a bio-medical and life science element, the BrainCo STEM Kit hopes to have broader appeal for students across the sexes and can augment a schools existing STEM curriculum.
“We want to find more solutions for real world problems and solve critical life issues,” says Joshua Varela, Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships at BrainCo. “And we know we can do the most good for the future by inspiring young minds in the classroom to consider careers in prosthetics, biomedicine and other mind-brain interface solutions. We are reviewing our curriculum to be more self-directed and challenging and expanding beyond Life Sciences into Artificial Intelligence.”
The BrainCo STEM Kit provides a fully customisable learning experience for students typically from grade 5 through 10. Based on the same technology used in the real prosthetic, the kit is an excellent entry point for students to learn about robotics, prosthetics, coding, and all aspects of STEM. The kit is supported by curriculum guides, worksheets and slide decks making it extremely easy and supportive for teachers to introduce this as part of their curriculum for schools.
“While I was initially interested in BrainCo for its brainwave feedback technology and the wearable EEG technology used in FocusCalm, we really see the relevance of the BrainCo STEM Kit for Australian Schools,” says Danny Gambaro, Director of The AVR Lab. “As a father myself, I can see how the BrainCo STEM Kit can improve critical-thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills; and kids can have fun doing it. Early feedback from Australian educators is very encouraging and we want to work with a few select Australian schools to prove its worth as an integral part of their STEM curriculum.”
About The AVR Lab
The AVR Lab was founded in April 2020 as a subsidiary of Accuteque Global Pty Ltd, a Management Consulting firm, founded by Caroline Patton in 2002, which has been providing services to the Australian and New Zealand markets for over 18 years. Until recently Accuteque has been delivering Augmented and Virtual Reality (AVR) services as one of the broad range of services we offer. Our key focus has been on finding the right solution for our clients’ business challenges.
In April 2020, a decision was made to establish The AVR Lab as a separate business, focused on bringing the best AVR and emerging technology and solutions to the Australian and New Zealand market. The AVR Lab is a start-up within the existing business structure and currently service clients across Australia. For more information about The AVR Lab, and the BrainCo STEM Kit, visit our website at: https://theavrlab.com/partners/brainco/ .
About BrainCo
Founded in 2015 and incubated in the Harvard Innovation Lab, BrainCo leverages its R&D expertise in artificial intelligence to develop cognitive training technology and brain-based applications in the education, fitness and wellness spaces. The company has huge ambitions, as it wants to help customers reach their full potential and benefit the entire human race with its brain-based applications to improve concentration and overall mental wellness. The first product BrainCo brought to market was their EEG Wearable Focus1 with the BrainCo STEM kit as their second product. The core business of BrainCo is BMI (Brain Machine Interface) wearables used to help people improve their attention levels, reduce stress and increase working efficiency through a scientifically-proven method called neurofeedback training. For more information about BrainCo visit www.brainco.tech ###
