Revitalizing the Bedtime Story

Palisadian Husband and Wife Team Launch SmartDreams App, Using Generative AI to Create Stories

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

A bedtime routine is a beloved ritual for both parents and children alike—and one Palisadian couple has focused on expanding the possibilities of the bedtime story, with the use of generative AI.

Palisadian husband and wife entrepreneurial couple Nick Desai and Dr. Renee Dua launched SmartDreams in April, billed as “the first-ever app that leverages a generative AI engine to enable children and their families to create unlimited, unique and vibrantly illustrated bedtime stories born from their own wonder and imaginations.”

Desai and Dua were inspired by the ritual of bedtime storytelling with their own three children.

One night, Desai shared, while he and his wife were working, their 4-year-old daughter sat between them and asked for a bedtime story. Desai assumed she meant she wanted to read a book, but no, she requested they make up a bedtime story with “a bear, a forest and a pizza.”

“Renee and I looked at each other and inspiration struck,” Desai said about the formation of SmartDreams, adding that he had already been playing around with generative AI and Chat GPT.

“This happens every night,” Desai continued, “kids don’t want to hear the same story over and over.”

About six weeks after that moment, with help from their sons who are taking coding classes, they created an app designed to be a “tech-enabled solution that could unlock the limitless magic and creativity of a child’s mind by intelligently generating detailed, adventurous and educational tales based on each child’s chosen story elements within seconds.”

“This is a really interesting time in our history with artificial intelligence,” Dua shared. “I think while there may be some fear about AI, it is very exciting, and we better learn how to work with it—all of us. The sooner we can expose our children to how to work with it, the better … this is going to be the way they live.”

Those who use the app can pull from a wide range of animals, heroes, sidekicks, fictional locations, foods and more to create their own story. After making their selections, the story is generated within seconds.

“In about 20 seconds, they will get an illustrated story that is as complex in terms of words or symbols, and as long or short as dictated by the child’s age,” Desai explained. “For a 3-year-old, where the parent is going to read the story, you want shorter stories, simpler concept. For my son who’s 9, you might want a longer story with words that are appropriate to third and fourth grade.”

At its launch, SmartDreams featured about 40 different animals, including everything from endangered species to more commonly seen choices, like a squirrel. Users receive facts about the animals they select, with plans for the app to include real places in the future, so children can learn about different cities.

“When a kid can take their own interest and turn that into a story and is learning along the way,” Desai explained, “they don’t even realize that they’re learning.”

Some examples of stories featured on the website include “Eric and Turbo’s Hamber High Seas Rescue,” “Ashley and the Plump Penguin’s Ice Cream Climb,” and “Kevin and the Loyal Dog’s Forest Cookie Challenge.”

“With SmartDreams, children can find their own voice and become their own storytellers,” according to a press release, “while witnessing the true magic of AI and STEM applications in an environment that is already safe, familiar and full of wonder.”

Before its official launch, in addition to having their kids as beta-testers, Desai said that they shared the SmartDreams app with a group of about 20 parents, who just “loved it.”

“People have really responded very favorably,” Desai continued, “and we’re really thrilled to hear that.”

Dua shared that their son, who is a bit older than their daughter, is able to use SmartDreams to read to her, which, in turn, allows him to learn how to read better while she listens to him—an activity that is “fun for both of them.”

“I am sort of out of a job,” Dua joked, “which isn’t so bad.”

This is not the Palisadian couple’s first foray into launching an app: In 2015, Dua and Desai created and co-founded Heal, which allows users to request a doctor to come to their house for a flat rate fee, as well as Renee, designed to help “chronic disease patients achieve better health and live their best lives.”

They shared that creating SmartDreams was “not much different” than their other endeavors.

“Nick and I both have a lot of interest in building apps and software that benefit humans,” Dua shared. “When we do health tech, our goal is for patients to have better healthcare. When we’re doing things in a more educational space, our goal is that children and their parents have a better educational experience. So from a vision and a mission perspective, this is right up our alley that we’re trying to make something better.”

Dua, who completed her Bachelor of Science in biochemistry at University of California, San Diego, and her MD at Rosalind Franklin University, built a “thriving” nephrology practice in Los Angeles prior to Heal, as well as served as chief of medicine at Valley Presbyterian and Simi Valley hospitals. She was a “pioneer in the successful usage of electronic health records and practice management.”

Desai, who earned his Bachelor of Science in electrical and computer engineering at University of California, Irvine, and an MS in electrical engineering at UCLA, is an “accomplished entrepreneur” who has started multiple start-ups over the last two decades, with SmartDreams marking his sixth. He created and built “successful venture-funded startups.”

Though they have moved neighborhoods a few times, the two have lived in the Palisades since 2009.

“When you have a lot of great ideas and you work with smart people, they can make things happen very quickly,” Dua shared. “That is something special about Nick, he doesn’t have a one-track mind in some ways, where all he can do is eat, breathe and sleep healthcare. I think he can eat, breathe and sleep healthcare, but he can also make apps to make reading easier for children and more exciting for children.”

Desai shared that to do something “so quickly” has given him “a boost of energy that is hard to describe.”

“It’s truly gratifying to take what I love doing and the people I love the most, and put those two things together,” he shared.

SmartDreams, which is free to use, is geared for children ages 3 and up.

“The app is as creative and imaginative as the mind of a child,” Desai said, “and I’ve never met a beautiful place.”

For more information, visit smartdreams.ai.