Animal Hero awarded at the European Youth Awards.

The Animal Hero project has emerged as the winner in the Smart Learning category of the European Youth Awards (EYA), being one of the 11 winning projects out of the 167 submitted.

Among many other benefits, EYA winners receive a three-month mentoring program, and the projects are recognized and celebrated by the international jury at the Winners Festival (EYA Festival) held in the city of Graz, Austria, from November 30 to December 3. While there, the team will present the project to around 300 international attendees to vie for the ultimate prize.

Animal Hero Universe is a transmedia project for children with Down Syndrome (DS), comprising a Kinect video game, a testimonial documentary, a children’s story, a Tablet game, and a website.

The core of Animal Hero is the Kinect video game, set in a distant future where humanity has had to emigrate to another planet. Hero, the main character, is an 11-year-old boy who returns to Earth to retrieve his pet, Axel, who was left behind. The Tablet game for younger children explores Hero and Axel’s childhood when they lived together on Earth.

Through the video games and stories of Animal Hero Universe, cognitive skills such as memory, divided attention, sustained attention, executive functions, and so forth are exercised and reinforced. Working closely with medical specialists, Animal Hero provides cognitive stimulation that benefits the majority of children with DS, helping improve their autonomy and apply the learned skills to real life.

The games are also engaging and immersive for children without disabilities, allowing all children to have a good time together, understanding each other while playing