A STUDENT from Middlesex University has created an innovative “magic mirror” to help teach primary school children.

As part of his product design studies, Mike Saxton created the learning tool Guubes to turn computer screens and classroom whiteboards into a mirror image pupils can interact with.

Using designs printed from the Guubes website, students make a series of boxes.

When held in front of a webcam the boxes appear on the screen as graphics including animals, monsters and numbers.

Seeing themselves on screen alongside the images, children can take part in a variety of numeracy, literacy and role-play games.

Whether pupils are counting the number of teeth monsters have or lining up animals in size order, the tool makes learning fun.

Mike said: “Schools are frequently subject to costly and over elaborate technology being pushed at them.

“Guubes addresses this by dematerialising the learning aid and making use of existing technologies in the classroom, and best of all it's free.”

Mike used technology called augmented reality which combines computer graphics into a real-time video and will continue to develop Guubes.

In the future he aims to tailor the programme to students with hearing difficulties and visual impairment.