[Start人] "Pledo, Fluent in Hangul and Alphabet Conversion... Learning While Playing with AI"

Kim Gwansuk, CEO of Fredo, 8 Years of Product Development
Equipped with e-Paper Display on Each Block
Supports Learning in 15 Subjects Including Korean and English

Kim Gwansuk, CEO of Pledo, is introducing 'Pledo,' a learning tool that combines artificial intelligence (AI) technology with block play.

"We dedicated eight years to product development to create an AI block that the world has never seen before. ‘Pledo’ is a fun and creative learning platform where children can play and study at the same time."

A new concept product that combines AI technology with analog play blocks, enabling various learning such as Korean, English, and math, has been released. Last October, CEO Kim Gwansuk of Pledo ambitiously launched the AI block Pledo. CEO Kim got the idea while teaching Korean to his 4-year-old son using blocks. When he combined the block with ‘ㄱ’ and the block with ‘ㅏ’ and pronounced it as ‘geu~a’ to teach the word ‘가 (ga),’ he noticed his son quickly grasping the letters.

Having worked at SK Telecom for over 10 years gaining experience in marketing, strategy, and planning, CEO Kim founded Pledo in April 2014 and began developing the AI block Pledo. He said, "There were no existing products to benchmark, so it took quite a long time until launch," and added, "We plan to reach customers through TV home shopping and door-to-door sales."

Pledo consists of a main unit and 12 blocks. After installing the Pledo application (app) on a tablet PC or smartphone and wirelessly connecting it to the main unit, users can enter the world of Pledo where studying feels like playing a game. The product name Pledo carries the meaning of ‘let’s study while playing.’ Step-by-step learning is possible through missions that involve defeating villains.

CEO Kim explained, "We structured the story to match children’s perspectives and put great effort into the design with characters we developed ourselves," adding, "Parents can manage their child’s learning status in real time." EBS participated jointly in the planning and development process of the Pledo service.

The blocks connect magnetically to the main unit, and each block is equipped with an e-paper display. The core technology allows the display to freely change between Korean characters, alphabets, numbers, musical notes, and animal characters. When touching ‘transform’ on the tablet screen, the block’s display instantly changes, which seemed enough to capture children’s interest.

In this way, connecting three blocks labeled with the alphabets ‘A,’ ‘N,’ and ‘T’ in order and attaching them to the main unit is recognized as ANT, allowing children to learn English words. Korean is also taught based on the principle of Hunminjeongeum, where consonants and vowels combine to form sounds. Currently, a total of 15 types of learning are available, and the app is continuously being updated. CEO Kim, who secured four overseas patents for Pledo in Taiwan, Japan, China, and Vietnam, plans to target overseas markets in the future.