Bright Star Technology

Bright Star Technology, Inc. was founded by Elon Gasper and Nedra Goedert during the early 1980s and was a key player in multimedia technology.^[1] Well-known titles from Bright Star include HyperAnimation, Alphabet Blocks, and the Talking Tutors series. Bright Star was acquired by Sierra On-Line in 1992, and was a cornerstone of Sierra's educational games department.^[2]

Prior to starting the company, Gasper was teaching computer science at California Institute of Technology while trying to teach his daughter how to read. He became inspired by the lip-synchronization positions charts used in Disney animation. This inspired him to create animated tutors whose mouths moved realistically to humans.^[3] This continued to Early Math, which follows the curriculum from the National Association of Teachers of Mathematics.^[3]

A.J.'s World was developed by Sierra's subsidiaries Coktel Vision and Bright Star Technology.^[4]

Bright Star's games

• Alphabet Blocks
• AJ's World of Language
• AJ's World of Math
• AJ's World of Discovery
• Spelling Jungle (also sold as Basic Spelling and Yobi's Basic Spelling Tricks; code-named Spelling Demons)
• Spelling Blizzard (also sold as Advanced Spelling)
• Kid's Typing
• Early Math
• Beginning Reading
• The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain
• Discover ABC and 123 with Hickory & Me (also sold as separate ABC and 123 products; produced in cooperation with Golden Books Family Entertainment)
• Discover Math and Spelling with Monker (also sold as separate Math and Spelling products; produced in cooperation with Golden Books Family Entertainment)

Bright Star's language education products

• Berlitz Live! Spanish (produced in cooperation with Berlitz International, Inc.)
• Berlitz Live! Japanese (produced in cooperation with Berlitz International, Inc.)

References