Denver startup Two Tails Story Co., which uses machine learning to personalize children's books, aims to harness the power of familiarity to teach young kids to recognize letters and numbers.
Two Tails receives photos of families' dogs and converts them into illustrated characters, which are automatically added into templates of books. The company's founder, Daniel Cohen, said he worked with early childhood learning experts while developing the content.
"When kids see their own dog in this book, they can't believe it," Cohen said. "The attachment between the kid and the dog, which is the energy that we're drawing from, works for these really important elements of learning, which are motivation, engagement and interest."
Two Tails Story Co. started accepting orders in June. In addition to personalized books, it launched a series in which it features rescue dogs in the Denver area.
Books from its rescue dog series will be made available soon at three Denver locations: Bookbar in Berkeley, The Bookies in Virginia Village and Artisan Center in Cherry Creek. The book is being used now by classes at the Monarch Montessori school in Montbello.
Another local school, the Montessori Academy of Colorado in Five Points, is planning to use the books in its classrooms. Those books will feature Ash, the school dog.
In the ABC books, the dogs are put into "outlandish" scenes, Cohen said. They're depicted as astronauts, swimming with an octopus, playing football and performing on a stage, as well as other scenarios. On one page, the dog is riding in a Corvette convertible that's driving on a curve, surrounded by cactuses.
"This is where the kid kind of leans in. At that moment, they intuitively say, 'This picture wants me to pull for something.' That's an important intellectual milestone," Cohen said. "That's why there are so many C-things on this."
Making dogs into illustrations was a technical challenge because of the varieties of dog breeds, Cohen said. Almaz Nanjappa, the chief technology officer of Two Tails, used machine learning to have the Two Tails program make the photos into illustrations and place them in the correct spots on the books' pages. An illustrator checks and refines each book before it's printed, Cohen said.
Before founding Two Tails Story Co., Cohen founded and sold another Denver startup, Sentral, previously known as Daydream Apartments.
Sentral is a network of designer apartment buildings with in-built workspace and rooftop pools, where people can pay to stay for varying lengths of time, from one night to multiple years. Residents are able to make money through the company's homesharing program when they travel, with Sentral handling all of the organization and communication during the rental.
In May 2019, the company purchased a 570-unit Union Denver building at 1770 Chestnut Place, which was rebranded as Sentral Union Station. In its first year, it added multiple properties across the country, owning more than $1 billion in assets.
Cohen said "the idea caught fire" and garnered the attention of big investors. He sold in January 2020 with the goal of starting another company.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Cohen felt like the connections between people were wearing thin. He started brainstorming ideas for startups that would focus on people's connections with their loved ones, he said.
"I knew I wanted to do something purposeful, where I didn't have to squint to see the value of what we were doing," Cohen said. "The attachment you feel to the people in your life, I knew I wanted to make a company around that somehow. Dogs were the perfect vehicle, because that's a simple, beautiful connection."
