Nebula Labs

The South Tyneside Council recognised an issue affecting young people in care - the inability to safely store and access memories of their time spent with foster carers. Lost memories often hindered these young individuals from understanding their own life stories, creating a gap in their emotional development. Alongside Digital Catapult North East and Tees Valley (NETV), Nebula Labs embarked on a mission to enhance the lives of young people within South Tyneside's care system with their innovative solution, the Virtual Memory Box.

The Support

To bring this project to live Nebula Labs, a Newcastle based software house, received engagement support from Digital Catapult NETV. This came in the form of a number of initial discover meetings, discovery sessions and workshops. Digital Catapult NETV also helped to facilitate hands-on user research sessions which allowed further developments and enhancements of the Virtual Memory Box. The team at Nebula Labs also received help from a legal and compliance perspective in terms of engagements with the council.

Dylan McKee, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Nebula Labs, said this about the support provided:

"Working with Digital Catapult NETV and Sunderland Software City was a pleasure to be honest. They are really laid back, helpful and step in where they need to. But, they are aware that we are the tech company and want to get on with it and have our heads down. When it comes to wider partnerships and wider engagements with the likes of councils, they're incredibly helpful and allow us to engage better with a non-tech end client"