Dan Yang Targets Babies with Vinci Tablet

Dan Dan Yang has created a tablet designed to help children make the most of their developmental window of opportunity.

Dan Dan Yang is the creator of Vinci, a tablet designed to stimulate development of social, emotional and cognitive skills during a child’s first four years — the so-called “window of opportunity” when 90% of the brain’s development takes place.

The Vinci uses the Google Android S operating system but comes with a basic set of proprietary early learning content including music videos, story books and games designed to engage and encourage toddlers. The Vinci’s 7-inch touch screen is encircled by a rugged baby-friendly plastic handle.

“Children are born to learn to find their roles in the world,” said Yang, mother of two daughters and founder and CEO of Vinci-maker Rullingnet Corp. “We encourage every child to enjoy all the fun activities both outdoor and indoor. We also want to find a clear path for children to get ready to meet the world with confidence.”

To help parents set realistic, age-appropriate expectations, Rullingnet recently released a chart of early developmental milestones called the VINCI Early Learning Objectives. The chart divides early development into three stages: Level 1 (The Curious), Level 2 (The Confident) and Level 3 (The Capable).

The Vinci went on sale in the spring of 2010 for between $389 and $479 at Amazon, the Vinci web store, Fred Segal stores in Los Angeles, Datavision stores in New York. It is also distributed as part of a rewards programs of some airlines and banks.

Rullingnet and Vinci are probably Yang’s softest creations. Yang is a highly respected tech entrepreneur with at least five patents in the field of fiber optics communications. By the time she founded Rullingnet at the beginning of 2010 Yang had successfully launched and sold several tech startups. Soon after Vinci was released Yang was named in the Forbes 2010 “Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs/Mompreneurs to Watch”.

Dan Dan (meaning “very red”) Yang was born in China into an entrepreneurial family. Her grandfather owned a boat factory and operated a transport business on the imperial canal which connects north and south China until being sent down to the farms during the Cultural Revolution. Her father was a self-taught airplane motor technician who eventually headed up a motorcycle joint venture with Suzuki. Her mother was a technician at a state-owned factory which produced electronic tubes.

Yang earned a BA in physics at Nanjing University in 1982. She won a state-sponsored scholarship that allowed her to pursue post-graduate studies at the Paris-Sud 11 University where she earned a master’s and a PhD.

In 1991 Yang began teaching optics and photonics at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers in Paris, a school used mainly for adult education programs. She immigrated to Canada in 1993 and worked on long-distance fiber-opitcs networking at MPB Technology. She launched AFC Technologies in Hull in 1996. While working with AFC Yang received five patents related to fiber optics. Between 1997 and 1999 she invented and brought to market an L-band amplifier ahead of rival firms. A broadband source (BBS) that she also invented became the industry standard.

Yabg also made her mark with an optical sensor and in medical tomography research. Nortel adopted another her inventions which allowed the doubling of signal traffic in a fiber, a technology still used for long distance or wide area telephony and data transport. AFC Technologies was acquired by JDSU in 1999, giving Yang enough to donate $1 million to Nanjing University for the construction of a student center named after her late father in 2000. Since then Yang has also established a scholarship there in her name.

In 2000 Yang entered Stanford University’s executive MBA program while starting up Dowslake Microsystems, her second venture. Since then she has made acquisitions in Germany, China and Hong Kong and invested in technology startups in wireless, biotech, computing and other areas of hi-tech. Rullingnet is her first departure from these hi-tech areas.

Yang has been married since 1990 to Zibin Lu, an electrical engineering PhD she met while living in Paris. Yang is the mother of 2 daughters born in 1995 and 2009.