Our Solution
An app that allows British Armed Forces Personnel to read bedtime stories and leave messages for their family at home.
The Little Troopers Treasures app has been built around two main concepts: The ‘Memory Box’ and ‘Stories’:
Memory Box allows Military parents to record videos of up to two minutes in length that will then be saved on a secure server hosted by Cantarus. The next time the family of the military parent log in to the app, they would be alerted to a new video that is available to watch, personally made for them, by their mum or dad. The videos can showcase any type of message that the parent wishes, whether that be a quick hello to something more elaborate. Parents also have the option to schedule when they want their video messages to appear to their families, ensuring that they will never miss their children’s birthdays even if they are unable to record a message on the day.
The Stories section uses a scaled-down version of the app’s video-recording functionality and features the military parent reading a bedtime story aloud to their children at home.
Due to international time zones, a child’s bedtime could coincide with a military parent’s active duty or even whilst they are sleeping themselves. To ensure that a military parent is always there for their child’s bedtime, the Little Troopers Treasures app allows the parent to choose from a range of popular children’s books and then records the reader. The app is able to determine when the parent turns each page, so that when the family reads the same story at a later date, the turning of the pages is automatically synced.
We wanted Little Troopers Treasures to be a source of comfort for military families whenever they want to feel closer to their mum or dad when they’re not in the same country, or even the same continent. Each recording can be watched an unlimited number of times, establishing a connection between families and serving personnel that goes beyond borders.
The app needed to prove that reading an e-book could just as much fun as reading a paper book. Our expertise in delivering apps with an attention to detail and a focus on subtle features and animations ensure that our digital storytelling experience pushes against the limitations afforded by its paper counterpart. We were able to combine exceptional storytelling and unprecedented interactivity for something heartfelt and entirely unique to service families.
Cantarus and Little Troopers would like to give special thanks to ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, whose funding made the Little Troopers Treasures app possible and Harper Collins for keeping the app’s library stocked with a range of engaging books for families to enjoy.