2011

GIRAF began as a semester project at Aalborg University’s Department of Computer Science, with Egebakken Specialskole as partner. The first goal was a digital version of the physical schedule boards used in autism care.

Fall 2024

The three current apps started in new repositories: Weekplanner (visual schedules) as a Flutter and .NET app, Visual Tangible Artefacts (VTA) (communication boards, with AI-generated images) and Foodplanner (visual meal plans built on the Picture Exchange Communication System, PECS).

Fall 2025

Work continued on VTA and Foodplanner. VTA got video calls, live-shared boards and multiple boards per child. Foodplanner got search, ingredient images and a parent login.

Spring 2026

Two shared services were added: giraf-core for users, organisations, citizens and pictograms, and giraf-ai for pictogram generation and text-to-speech. Weekplanner was moved onto giraf-core and got choice activities and a landscape iPad layout. VTA and Foodplanner still run their own backends.

How the project runs

Each fall, 5th semester students from Interaction Design, Software Development and Information Technology join GIRAF. The teaching model is described in a peer-reviewed paper, Designing Sustainable Interdisciplinary PBL in Engineering Education (IRSPBL 2025).