Snugget

What it does

Snugget offers a responsive emotional companion system consisting of sensors and expressive characters, which guide children to understand their feelings in real-time and develop emotional intelligence.

Your inspiration

The idea came from observing how children often struggle to express emotions due to limited vocabulary and self-awareness. Inspired by the gap between emotional needs and communication abilities in early development, we envisioned a soft, intelligent system that responds empathetically to a child’s state. By blending play with real-time feedback, Snugget encourages children to build emotional resilience while enjoying interaction.

How it works

Snugget combines real-time emotion detection with sensory feedback to form an interactive learning loop. A built-in camera analyzes the child’s facial expression using AI-based emotion recognition, classifying it into five core emotions—joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. Simultaneously, sensors embedded in the tray detect biometric signals like heart rate, temperature, and pressure from the child’s hands. The screen then projects a responsive character that mirrors the detected emotion with subtle animated changes. When the child interacts—e.g., squeezing or tapping the tray—the system reacts with expressive feedback, enabling children to reflect on and regulate their emotional state.

Design process

The project with extensive research into early childhood emotional development and psychological case studies of emotional neglect. Interviews with child psychologists and educators revealed a recurring pattern: children with poor emotional expression tend to develop long-term mental health challenges. From this, the core insight emerged—emotional self-awareness needs to be cultivated early. We then entered a co-design phase, engaging caregivers and children in workshops to explore how children perceive emotions. Sketches and low-fidelity prototypes were used to test interaction modes, such as squeezing or tapping. These trials highlighted that tactile interaction could serve as a ‘release valve’ and bridge for self-expression. Technically, we iterated through facial emotion recognition models, optimizing for child-specific facial features and reducing latency. Sensor calibration was done to match physical input intensity with age-appropriate thresholds. The emotional IP characters were co-developed with visual designers to ensure emotional clarity and aesthetic comfort. By blending emotional science with playful interaction, Snugget was gradually refined into a seamless physical-digital tool that helps children build a vocabulary of feelings before they can fully verbalize them.

How it is different

Unlike traditional educational toys or therapy tools that rely on instruction-based learning, Snugget focuses on embodied emotional experience. Its strength lies in enabling young children to externalize internal feelings without needing verbal ability. Snugget does not merely detect emotions—it responds in a way that supports emotional growth through reflection and interaction. Its modular sensor-feedback system is tailored to a child’s body language and emotional profile, making it uniquely empathetic. Furthermore, the visual IP characters serve as intuitive emotional mirrors, helping children decode abstract emotions. This design encourages emotional resilience and offers long-term developmental support.

Future plans

In the near future, we plan to expand Snugget into a family and school ecosystem. A mobile app will be developed to connect the device to caregivers, enabling emotion journaling, progress tracking, and therapist review. We also aim to partner with kindergartens and pediatric clinics for broader pilot studies. On the technical side, we plan to introduce adaptive learning algorithms that adjust feedback based on long-term usage patterns, making Snugget a personalized emotional coach.

Awards