Quest for Dyslexia

Objective

Samsung addressed a critical public health gap in China where fewer than 5% of an estimated 15 million dyslexic children receive formal diagnosis. Cultural stigma prevented parents from seeking professional testing, creating a need for an accessible, normalized screening approach that could reach children where they already spend time.

Solution

Samsung partnered with Young Warrior, a popular mobile adventure game played by millions of Chinese children, to embed dyslexia detection into gameplay. The integration used over 100 pairs of commonly confused Chinese characters within game quests, while machine learning algorithms tracked player interactions in real time. The system identified children showing consistent patterns of character misrecognition and automatically sent notifications to parents, encouraging them to pursue clinical assessment.

Results

The campaign conducted over 1 million tests in its first month and identified approximately 25,000 potential dyslexia cases. The initiative successfully normalized screening by repositioning diagnosis from a clinical setting to an entertainment context, reducing the stigma barrier that had prevented families from seeking help.