Intro

Contacts, on Steroids

 

Media

This page provides information for journalists, columnists and other writers who are covering the Intro app and Intro Limited.

I want to provide you with the information and resources that you need to understand and cover Intro. If there is anything that would assist you, please let me know.

 
 
Duncan Babbage, PhDFounder and Developer, Intro

Duncan Babbage, PhD
Founder and Developer, Intro

Dr. Duncan Babbage

Intro is the work of Dr. Duncan Babbage. 

'Patient Zero': Duncan has always had significant problems with recognising faces, and even more with learning and recalling names. Some days, he couldn't even pull up the name of people he knew quite well. He got great at covering for it, but... maybe you know how terrible that feels at times. Duncan made Intro to try and help himself, and everyone else, to connect more effectively with people.

Professional: Duncan trained as a clinical psychologist in New Zealand. As part of this, his doctoral research in the late 1990s examined neuropsychological assessment with people with extremely severe physical and sensory impairments after brain injury—people who could not write or speak, and who communicated through spelling out words by pointing or using eye movements.

Clinician and health researcher: After graduating, Duncan practiced for 15 years as a clinical psychologist/ neuropsychologist in both the New Zealand health system and in the National Health Service in London, UK. In that time, he worked in child and adolescent services, adult mental health, psychogeriatric services, and had a particular focus on neuropsychological rehabilitation. Duncan is no longer active as a psychologist, but draws on this background in his focus on using mobile technology to support cognitive functioning and wellness.

Software developer: Duncan is a self-taught iOS software developer. Duncan personally wrote all the code that was written specifically for the Intro app. (Like most apps, Intro incorporates a few third party libraries, for things like its support tool and for analytics.) Previous development work has included as co-inventor and lead developer of MS Energise (msenergise.com), a tool for self-management of fatigue for people with Multiple Sclerosis.

Academic: In addition to his work on Intro, Duncan is Director of the Centre for eHealth and an Associate Professor in Rehabilitation at Auckland University of Technology. He is well published in peer-reviewed international academic journals, and has given hundreds of research presentations to academic and professional audiences.   

 
Intro app icon: a white "I" shape that could resemble a person, on a red background.

Intro for iPhone

Intro is personal network management tool, with a focus on learning names, recognising faces, and retrieving information about people you've met. Add people, make connections, create groups, and have a dated history of notes for each. When you create an avatar for a person (here, for instance, Caucasian, wavy brown hair, glasses, short stubble beard), you can use this in an avatar search to identify people out of context. Intro’s Learn tool, based on neuropsychological research on errorless learning and spaced retrieval, is remarkably effective at making a person’s name just pop into your head (see video). The app syncs with iPhone Contacts, enabling users to manage all contact fields in either app.

Intro is a native iPhone app, exclusively on iOS. A one month free trial is available for the full version of the app, which requires an annual subscription. A discounted subscription rate is currently available for Intro 1.x, in advance of the release of Intro 2.0 in 2023. If you end your subscription, you can continue to access all data you’ve created in the app during any previous subscription period, and you can do basic contact management. The app has been available in all 157 countries that the iOS App Store operates in since its launch day on 14 February 2018.

 
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Intro Limited

Intro Limited publishes the Intro app for iPhone. It is a privately held limited liability company headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand. Duncan Babbage is the founder and sole shareholder.

Intro Limited is not seeking external investment, and is focussed instead on building a viable business in partnership with committed users who subscribe to the Intro app as it provides them with value and privacy.

 
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Interviews

Duncan is available for media interviews, via email, phone/online voice or video chat, and live or pre-recorded podcast interviews. He is happy to discuss health technology, using technology to assist cognitive functioning, and/or to discuss the Intro app specifically. Duncan previously hosted a podcast for three years as inaugural Senior Media Editor of Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, so believes he can be a low-maintenance remote interviewee. 

Duncan is based in Auckland, New Zealand (UTC +13 hrs) but is willing to schedule interviews at times that suit your timezone and your deadline, not his.

 

Editorial use of images is welcome

Media are welcome to reproduce images from the intro.fm website for editorial use in association with any article that is discussing the Intro app or Intro Limited.

For such editorial purposes, media and other reviewers are granted a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual license to use, modify and re-use images from this site in all media in association with any article that is discussing the Intro app or Intro Limited. Providing such articles link to the Intro app on the iOS App Store, and/or to https://intro.app, no attribution for specific images is required. All images remain © Copyright 2023 Intro Limited.