Most of us are familiar with rubber ducky. That childhood staple has undergone a revolutionary change that ultimately could change the way our children learn.
"Edwin. The Duck with a Future" has been drawing crowds on Main Street in Carmel.
"So almost every single day, if we inflate Edwin outside the office, we get a bunch of little kids coming to see what the inflated duck is all about," Don Inmon says as he stands next to an oversized, blow-up yellow duck on the step of his office in downtown Carmel.
And they are not alone. Meet Edwin. He is no ordinary duck.
"So this is the real Edwin. Can someone brush his teeth? There you go. You are brushing his teeth now," Inmon tells a group of young children surrounding him.
"The idea is, they take Edwin with them wherever they go," he said earlier in the day.
If he goes to bed, he's a night light complete with lullabies. If it's story time, he can narrate or let you read along. If you are taking a bath, he can take the water temperature and take the temperature of the child as well.
"Edwin is the world's first interactive rubber duck. He links to your parent's phone or your iPad and teaches you letters, numbers, colors and shapes. Read them bedtime stories and even help them go to sleep with a lullaby section that is pretty cool," Inmon explains to the parents in tow.
So the transformation of education through technology is now officially underway, which has more than just little kids coming to his door in Carmel.
"The biggest thing around the last few years has been fitness, right? I think this is the next wave. One of the biggest retailers in the world just said to us, 'This is a key vertical for app accessories'," Inmon said.
"That had to make you feel really good," Eyewitness News reporter Kevin Rader asked.
"Shocked. I had no idea," he confessed.
And there is an unintended consequence.
"I think it's divine intervention or something," he admitted.
Preliminary testing involving Edwin has shown great promise for children with autism.
"We have been doing testing with local centers for autism therapy with content we wrote for the consumer market. It's been extremely effective. It has shown marked improvement with nine kids who have been utilizing Edwin. That will be another pillar of the business for us as well," he said.
A worldwide launch is set for August. The only question now is - where can people buy it? The man who has worked with Apple and Klipsch is now talking with Best Buy, Target, Amazon Baby and Apple.
He told a small group of future entrepreneurs at Launch Fishers recently, "this app is going to turn into an animated television show."
Not bad for a project that has only been in development for 18 months. Major toy companies have told Inmon it would take them five years to get Edwin to market.
"For a long time, they've been saying what have we done in the past. Let's just do that better. We don't make toys. We make technology. With the idea to add personality to it and really a purpose. Really change the way kids are learning. Get kids excited about learning. Give parents a tool to make their day a lot easier. When all that came into this, we thought we had something," he concluded.
They do. They have a duck with a future.
If you are wondering how much Edwin will cost, it currently runs $99 and, by the way, Edwin is about to get an alter ego, or sidekick, if you will. "Wingman" is scheduled to be introduced later this year.
Pre-order Edwin here.
