Smarty Symbols Announces at SXSW New Symbol Set Library for Educational and Medical App Developers

March 3, 2013 - PRLog -- One of the problems faced by app developers and creators of educational and medical materials and guides is the availability of a high-quality, comprehensive set of images that encompass the entire spectrum of communication and messages intended for the material.  One approach to solve this issue is the use of symbols.  Symbols have been used for thousands of years to help people communicate and interact with one another.  For those situations where people need to communicate and understand by means other than the use of their own voice, writing, or listening to sounds, symbols can be a way to express basic needs and understand messages.  Symbols are used to represent objects, actions and concepts.

Smarty Symbols™, a division of Smarty Ears™, LLC a Dallas, TX-based leader in the development of iPad and iPhone applications for education and communication, has one of the largest and highest quality symbol set libraries for use by app developers and creators of educational materials.  The Smarty Symbols set was created a team of 11 artists from 4 continents, under the direction of a licensed speech therapist and an English teacher.  

Smarty Symbols has a modern, up-to-date, comprehensive and very transparent library.  Vocabulary is organized into semantic and meaningful categories (such as food, animals, fruits, drinks, communication, expressions, and colors) and can be easily retrieved by the user.  Smarty Symbols has just increased the size of the symbol set library to nearly 13,000 symbols and the number of categories to 102 making it one of the most comprehensive symbol data sets available in the marketplace today.  It features a low frequency symbol vocabulary that cannot be found on competitors’ symbol sets, including:  1) college life and employment; 2) modern trends such as symbols for Internet and social media vocabulary; and 3) symbols for adult intimacy and sexual education.  Smarty Symbols display characters from diverse backgrounds so the images have universal application.

Some of the potential applications for the Smarty Symbols library include apps and guides development for the following markets:

·         Educational/School  

·         Medical/Health

·         Communication, including speech therapy and augmented communication (AAC)

·         Psychology/Counseling

·         Law

·         Fitness and Nutrition

·         Tourism/City Guides

·         Language learning

·         Work/safety training

The symbol set is now available to be licensed to app developers and educational material.  The current license options include a one-time payment for lifetime usage of either the entire symbol data library or portions of it, or a one-time set up fee plus a royalty payment schedule based on the sale of products using Smarty Symbols.

The Smarty Symbols set has been licensed to developers across the world to be utilized into apps, computer software, and traditional alternative communication devices that are currently in development.  Some apps that use it today include Speak for Yourself™, iGreet You™, Quick Talk AAC™, Custom Boards™, Articulate it!™ and Expressive™.  At launch, Custom Boards quickly became the #3 bestselling educational app on iTunes™.

Attendees to the South by Southwest education (SXSWedu) and interactive (SXSWi) conferences will receive a 20% discount of the licensing price.   If you join Smarty Symbols’ mailing list or like our Facebook page you will receive a free Emergency Communication Picture Aid that is a useful example of the wide applicability of Smarty Symbols.

For more information about Smarty Symbols, visit http://www.smartysymbols.com or contact us at contact(at) smartyearsapps(dot)com.

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