[Life Act 3 Companies] A Game Created for a Young Daughter, Becoming Hope for 70,000 Senior Centers

Interview with Kim Chang-hwan, Director of the Brain Singgeut Research Institute

From a developer of early childhood education applications to a developer of cognitive training games for the elderly. The career of Kim Chang-hwan, director of the Brain Smile Research Institute (52), is unique. Having developed early childhood education apps that accumulated 50 million downloads, he now takes responsibility for the cognitive health of seniors at community centers and welfare facilities nationwide.

Majoring in civil engineering, he switched to the IT industry 25 years ago. Leveraging his experience working in the IT department at Daewoo Construction, he started his own business in 2008 and won the Minister’s Award at a venture startup competition hosted by the Ministry of Information and Communication. After focusing on developing about 300 educational apps for early childhood education, he has now shifted his focus to developing games for the elderly. We met him on the 14th at his office in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul.

On November 14th, Kim Chang-hwan, head of the Brain Singgeut Research Institute, demonstrated a cognitive game using the 'Doodle Pad' during a meeting with Asia Economy at an office in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. Photo by Park Yujin.

- What led you to create so many educational apps?

▲ I had a daughter after seven years. I tried making play-education apps for children, and the response was good. I also purchased character licenses like Robocar Poli to create apps for studying math and English. At one point, these apps were pre-installed on every Galaxy device launch, and I collaborated extensively with Google and Samsung.

- Why did you stop the app business despite its success?

▲ It was difficult to generate revenue on the app store. Sales were good at first, but after the initial purchase, it was hard to earn additional income. Although I made a lot of money early on, sales declined over time, and it became difficult to retain employees, so I wound down the business.

- How did you come to develop cognitive training games for the elderly?

▲ In 2017, a senior who was running elderly welfare programs suggested it. He was operating about 20 day care centers nationwide but said there were no programs for seniors. I hesitated at first, but after about three years of testing on-site, I saw the potential.

- Both early childhood apps and elderly games aim for brain training, but should they be different?

▲ They must be completely different. Children learn something new from scratch, while seniors are losing what they once had. Even if their speech is slurred or movements are awkward, they are fully aware of their condition. Their self-esteem remains, so they get angry and care about things. Since the brain is degenerating, their reaction speed slows, and their vision and hearing weaken, so a simple and clear interface is necessary.

- What specific differences are there?

▲ If you simply reuse the early childhood apps, there are too many words and the screen is complicated. I continuously simplified the design while testing with elderly users on-site. They preferred physical buttons over touchscreens, so I even created a controller they could press directly. Fun is also important. Simply saying “your brain will get better” doesn’t motivate them. They need to feel their own improvement to keep going.

- Were there any difficulties during development?

▲ We started only with tablets. Seniors couldn’t focus well on touchscreens, so physical buttons were necessary. By chance, I had created a “Doodle Pad” a few years ago for an English tutoring center, which we repurposed as a controller. Initially, the screen had very flashy effects, but after testing with seniors on-site, we continuously refined the details.

We also conducted clinical tests with Eulji University. Initially, some had difficulty with two-digit calculations but eventually managed up to six-digit numbers. Based on a complex dementia test method called “ADS-cog-K,” we focused on improving six cognitive abilities. Currently, there are 48 games, with plans to expand to 100.

- How is it actually used in the field?

▲ At welfare centers, 20 to 30 seniors play together. At first, they took turns pressing the Doodle Pad. For example, in a game where a car running on a three-lane road must avoid obstacles by pressing the Doodle Pad buttons to change lanes. However, those not participating were dozing off. So, we gave flags of the same color as the Doodle Pad to other seniors to hold, allowing everyone to participate simultaneously. Encouraging each other made the effect better. Seeing someone who couldn’t even complete level 1 at first reach levels 7 or 8 shows increased self-efficacy. Seniors rapidly deteriorate the moment they think they are useless, so this sense of achievement helps overall health.

- Is it actually effective in preventing dementia?

▲ Dementia is a decline in brain function, but it doesn’t happen all at once. Some lose their sense of direction and can’t find their way home, others only lose vocabulary, while the rest remain normal. So, training should focus on the deficient areas. However, existing methods often just provide workbooks or treat all patients the same. We manage individual training results as data. Performance can be measured with objective indicators like accuracy and reaction time.

- You target institutions rather than individuals as customers.

▲ The consumer price is around 6 million won, so it’s expensive, but there’s a more important reason. We distributed tablets to ten households of elderly living alone, but usage dropped sharply after a week. On the other hand, when multiple people gather and encourage and praise each other, usage continues. Ultimately, technology alone isn’t enough; human involvement is necessary.

- What is the current business status?

▲ We have supplied about 100 units to welfare centers and senior centers nationwide. The largest portion was delivered through the Ministry of Science and ICT’s “Smart Senior Center” project. A Smart Senior Center uses information and communication technology or the Internet of Things (IoT) to provide customized services such as digital education, leisure programs, and health management for seniors. The ministry is converting over 2,000 of the approximately 68,000 senior centers nationwide into Smart Senior Centers.

Recently, we also created and received approval for a private certification called “Brain Game Instructor.” We plan to focus on instructor training and education as well. No matter how much technology advances, the senior industry requires a human touch. It’s a fantasy to think AI or robots will solve everything.

- What are your future plans?

▲ Sales are not yet large. We have been researching and developing continuously since 2018, and only completed four product lines last year. There were many requests from the field for additional features, so development took a lot of time. We did research projects and received angel investment, but had to reduce fixed costs and laid off some employees. However, sales started to rise this year. The sales target for next year is 1 billion won. Since all content is Excel-based, it’s easy to convert to multilingual versions, so we are preparing for overseas expansion. I saw research showing the social cost per dementia patient is about 700 million won, but the government budget can’t cover all of it. Our goal is not just to help people live longer, but to help them live healthily. That makes families and society happier.