Four students from Instituto Superior Técnico – Vítor Clara, Francisco Redondo, Margarida Nunes and André Rodrigues – have developed Dyscovery, an artificial intelligence-powered app designed to help children with dyslexia improve their reading skills through an interactive "reading karaoke" experience.
According to the Portuguese Dyslexia Association, an estimated 120,000 children in Portugal are affected by dyslexia, a neurobiological condition that makes it more difficult to process the relationship between letters and sounds. Dyscovery enables children to practise reading by following text in real time, in a guided exercise similar to karaoke. The app then provides personalised feedback, highlighting areas for improvement and offering suggestions to support both reading and writing.
The project is currently in its second testing phase, with pilot programmes running in five schools across Lisbon, Coimbra and Leiria, involving more than 100 pupils.
The EdTech startup behind the app is part of JUNITEC, the Junior Enterprise of Instituto Superior Técnico, and has already won three major awards: the People's Choice Award at MIT €100K Portugal, first place in the Social Innovation category of the ARRISCA C business ideas competition, and the Portuguese final of the Hult Prize 2026, securing a place in the international competition.
