How Cheil & Samsung's App is Helping Kids with Autism Communicate

By launching “Look at Me” application which is designed to help autistic children to communicate with others, Samsung has made it clear that it is committed to empower people to solve their problems. 

Children with autism usually do not make and sustain eye contact with others, but they like to interact with smart devices. Based on this finding, Cheil Worldwide, the incumbent agency, collaborated with researchers and doctors from Seoul National University and Yonsei University, both based in South Korea, to develop the app. Using the smart devices’ camera features, children can learn to read a person’s mood, remember faces and take photos while displaying a range of emotions. After 8 weeks of test, it turned out that 60% of the tested children showed improvement in making eye contact and identifying emotional expressions.

“The Look at Me app is not really to promote products but to translate Samsung’s brand ideal into reality. Our focus was to put technology to use to make the world a better place”, said the director of Brand Strategy Group at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung’s culture of innovation is reaching beyond products to help people everywhere realize their potential by letting them know how technology can make a difference in their lives and the lives of others. We are glad that Cheil Worldwide, our long term marketing partner, has successfully translated Samsung’s brand philosophy into consumer reality.”

Wain Choi, Vice President & Global Executive Director of Cheil Worldwide, said "It’s been a while since we’ve tried to deliver a message beyond product features. And this one, in particular, was more about human truth and less about products. The “Look at Me” application is truly a technology that touches our lives in a meaningful way. Imagine an innovation that brings loved ones together. Samsung’s DNA has always been “innovation for all” regardless of who you are, where you live and what you do. As a leader in the industry, this shows how a brand can make a difference when it touches the heart, moves the viewers and truly changes lives.”

The Samsung Look At Me app is available worldwide for free on Google Play