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Now a ‘Wikipedia in videos’ from Dubai

Team of expat programmers to launch Alacut to provide edutainment.

Amir Jahanlou says his Alacut will help youngsters learn something from social media. — Supplied Photo

When Amir Jahanlou finishes his day-time job at SAE, where he teaches students how to develop video games and mobile apps, his mission and labour of love begins — which is to launch a kind of Wikipedia in videos.

“It is a unique social media for learning,” says the 30-year-old Iranian with a Masters in creative media from Middlesex. “It will give you information on anything you want to study, any topic you want to research.

“But instead of reading texts, you can watch all of it on video.”

Alacut, the new generation social media from Dubai, will be launched in early 2014, possibly February. Jahanlou says its USP will be filters that will weed out inaccurate or questionable information.

Initially to be amassed from video clip providers like YouTube, Alacut will eventually provide its own content.

Right now, the five-member team is looking for the seed money needed to keep the project going. For the $43,000 needed initially, they have registered with Indiegogo, the California-based funding platform where startups go to raise money through crowdfunding.

“It is not a commercial venture,” Jahanlou says. “We are not looking at making a profit. It will work the way Wikipedia does, with people’s contributions.”

There is no formal office. The team works from their own homes. Two of the team members, Sherry Fa and Ali Jamali, are from Iran, like Jahanlou. One, Jeff Marcels, is from Canada, and the fifth, Karina Kiseleva, is from Russia.

The group of programmers came up with the idea of Alacut after realising that young people were spending a lot of time unproductively.

“On an average, young people spend 75 minutes a day on social media without learning anything,” Jahanlou explains. “It is such a waste of time. Alacut will provide education with entertainment.”

The name Alacut also stands for the group’s motto, derived from the French a la — in the style of — and cut. Together. It means good editing, which they believe is the essence of acquiring valuable knowledge in a short span of time.

Initially to start in English, Alacut will next offer videos in Arabic, French, Spanish and Russian and subsequently, all other major languages.

At a time when young people throw themselves into recreational activities to unwind after work, what makes Jahanlou and his team devote themselves to a venture that may not even be a success?

“It’s probably because I am a teacher myself,” says the 3D computer animator and programmer who has spent eight years in the education industry.

Teaching runs in his blood. His father, Golam Jahanlou, is a retired psychology teacher, and his mother Roubabeh a teachers’ trainer.

“We believe this is going to become a very successful project,” Jahanlou says. “Even if it doesn’t, at least all of us will surf the site.”

news@khaleejtimes.com