Physiotherapy is hard work. For many kids with physical disabilities, it’s repetitive, demanding and emotionally draining, especially when progress is slow.

For parents, that reality creates a difficult tension. You know the therapy matters, but you’re asking a child — sometimes as young as two or three — to do hard things, over and over, without a clear sense of why. 

In Waterloo Region, a startup called Hiro is trying to change how that experience feels by creating AI-driven games built around exercise. Instead of repetition, it creates moments of play where movement unlocks progress without children realizing they’re doing therapy at all.

Through the support of KidsAbility Rocket Discovery Centre, the innovation and research hub at KidsAbility Centre for Child Development, a local non-profit organization that supports children with disabilities and developmental delays, Hiro went from an innovative idea to a research-backed tool shaped alongside families and clinicians.

A problem that started at home

Hiro co-founder Tamer Shahin’s 10-year-old son has cerebral palsy. His days include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and full-time mobility and personal support.

“When we do physio and occupational therapy, those sessions look a lot like a gym workout,” Shahin said. “So we're asking him to do things that can be challenging. Not just for him, they would be challenging for anybody. And then add on top that this is a child who's two years old, four years old, six years old.”

Over time, those sessions became harder physically and emotionally.

“So what happens is that this becomes a chore, becomes something that nobody is looking forward to, right?” he said. “But at the same time, as a parent, I feel the need to do this. I have to consistently give him the best chance at getting better long term.”

As Shahin connected with other families in a similar situation, he noticed this pattern repeating. 

“I found that it's a problem that a lot of families face,” he said. “And you start seeing the same challenges over and over again.”

Two founders, one shared urgency

Shahin met co-founder Jerry Chen through Waterloo Region’s startup ecosystem. What connected them was their lived experience.

Chen’s sister has global developmental delay and has spent years in therapy. He had already been working in accessibility and play when the two met.

“When I met Tamer, I realized we could do something bigger and make something that makes physiotherapy easy. We realized together, there was something that we could do to support families that are struggling,” Chen said.

With Hiro, they found a way to extend therapy and repetitive movements beyond the therapist’s office and into the home. Through their platform, families can continue their work and progress through fun games, engaging imagery and exciting characters, keeping children entertained as they work through their movement patterns. 

As Shahin and Chen have expanded and tested the Hiro platform, parents have shared moments that surprised them.

“A father was saying about his daughter that she was doing things that he never saw her do before, like tracking a soccer ball with her eyes and developing coordination skills, just because she is so engaged in the game,” Shahin said. “And he said that it is giving her the confidence to move in ways she hasn’t before.”

The AI behind the fun

Hiro runs on devices families already own, like smartphones, tablets and laptops, with no wearables, webcam or special hardware. A camera is enough to get started.

Behind the scenes, AI motion capture translates a child's physical movements into gameplay. Families can select games like “Skewer Ninja”or pretend to be soccer stars in “Keep Up Ball” and fly high in the sky as a 3D bird in “Fly By”.

“AI is analyzing the video that is coming through your camera on your phone and then using AI models to interpret the movements. Everything is safe and runs completely on your device. It will know that this is a face, this is your eyes, this is your elbow and this is your shoulder,” Shahin said.

That understanding allows therapeutic movements to control what happens on screen.

“When it knows that this is your elbow and you raise your elbow, now we program the game to collect a coin when you do that,” he said. “Or we program a game that when you stretch your arms and hands all the way out and tilt, now you’re flying a virtual bird, right there on the screen in front of you.”

From the child’s perspective, none of that complexity exists. 

“The technology enables that seamless, frictionless interaction just by simply stepping in front of a camera,” Shahin said.

Built in Waterloo Region

In addition to a partnership with KidsAbility Rocket Discovery Centre, support from the University of Waterloo, the Accelerator Centre, Velocity, and Communitech helped move Hiro from concept to real-world testing in a sector long overdue for modernization. 

“It is a field that is underserved,” Shahin said. “People have been asking for innovation in this space for a while, but it's very slow in terms of response from technology.”

In Waterloo, Shahin found momentum.

“I don't know if we would be where we are today if I weren't in this region or if I didn't receive all the support that I did locally,” he said. “Things would have been 100 times more difficult.”

An open invitation to families

Hiro is still evolving, and families are part of that process.

“We are at the stage where every bit of feedback matters a lot,” Shahin said. “So we want to work with as many families at an early stage as possible.”

Because small inputs can scale.

“If even one family hears about this and reaches out, and we’re able to make the game better,” he said. “That one improvement can impact a 1000 other kids.”

Families interested in trying Hiro or sharing feedback can learn more at playhiro.com.