MAKE to CARE is a contest with a mission: to bring to light and facilitate the creation and dissemination of innovative and useful solutions to meet the real needs of people affected by any form of disability, understood as any marked reduction in the quality of life due to pathologies and traumatic events. The contest is promoted by Sanofi. “Maker startups and innovators are able to realize solutions for people with disabilities” had Filippo Cipriani from Sanofi on the Main Stage during Maker Faire Rome 2021. There were 11 projects that made it to the finals.
Those 11 projects are now six
AbleUpp is a system consisting of a smart stick and a tactile-plantar-vocal pathway capable of guiding blind people, while also providing information about services along the way. The system is part of a broader project for an accessible village, aimed at making the village of Monteverde, a centre of 770 inhabitants, welcoming and barrier-free, by eliminating the distinction between disabled and able-bodied people. Author of the project: Municipality of Monteverde.
Camera Libera Tutti was born from the need to overcome the lack of sufficiently inclusive facilities. A design team worked on the development of furniture solutions, devices and systems to make accommodation and tourism facilities more accessible. The result is a Welcome Kit made up of ten indispensable objects which, although apparently simple, significantly increase the quality of the stay, breaking down the differences between accommodation reserved for disabled people and that for normal tourists. Author of the project: Fab Lab Parma (with support from Hackability).
DoMoMea is a low-cost, semi-automated home tele-rehabilitation system designed for patients with mild to moderate neuromotor disabilities following a stroke. It uses wearable inertial and pressure sensors for quantitative analysis of the subject’s movement during rehabilitation exercise, providing various types of feedback (visual, auditory and vibrotactile). The patient is involved in the rehabilitation process thanks to simple interfaces implemented on TVs or tablets, which guarantee greater participation. The system aims to complement conventional rehabilitation systems by assisting the National Health System in providing equal access to health services for all. Author of the project: University of Cagliari and University of Sassari.
Kimap is a technological device consisting of two apps for smartphones (one for navigation and one for accessibility mapping) to facilitate the movement of wheelchair users by reducing information barriers on the practicability of roads and buildings. At the heart of the two apps is a technology developed by Kinoa, which uses smartphone sensors and special machine learning algorithms to detect the conditions of the roads travelled and make it possible to georeference their conditions of practicability, facilitating the constant updating of navigation data and their sharing in the user community. Author of the project: Kinoa Srl.
SwimAble is an aid designed for children with agenesis or amputation of the upper limbs, to facilitate the approach to water sports and rehabilitation activities in water. The project is the brainchild of Piera Losciale, a volunteer with E-nable Italia, the Italian association for children and families with agenesis, amputation and limb malformations, which was set up as a spontaneous association of parents and families sharing the same experiences. Made of 3D printing and integrated into the swimming costume, it balances the body’s thrust in the water when free-swimming or doing rehabilitation activities (such as hydrokinesitherapy) aimed at strengthening the muscles of the residual limb and/or rebalancing the child’s posture. Author of the project: Piera Losciale + E-nable – Energy Family Project.
YUP! Your unique power is a kit of smart products designed for children (6-9 years) suffering from allergic rhinitis. A simple and fun ritual to administer the therapy correctly and without the presence of an adult by simply using the bathroom tap.Thanks to a dedicated APP, parents can check the consistency of the therapy, share information with the doctor and receive suggestions on how to act. Author of the project: Gianluca Micheli, Maria Vittoria Modugno and Ilaria Todeschini.
