MaketoCare 2023: winner announced
The 2023 edition of MaketoCare, the contest that help overcoming disability promoted by Sanofi with Maker Faire Rome, awards two teams of italian researchers
In MAKEtoCARE, with Sanofi, we’ll show how makers, innovators, service and information designers can work with practice professionals and patients/advocates to make a positive difference in healthcare.
The world of healthcare is constantly evolving, ever increasing in complexity, costs, and stakeholders, and presenting huge challenges to policy making, decision making, system design and solutions design. Sanofi and Maker Faire Rome are at the forefront of such process.
The contest
MAKEtoCARE seeks and rewards innovative, practical solutions that are useful for responding to the real needs of people with any form of disability, serious and / or chronic diseases or victims of traumatic events which result in a temporary or permanent change in the quality of life.
Whether it’s a product or a service, MAKEtoCARE solutions always want to make a difference and change the lives of patients and / or their caregivers for the better.
The Winners of the 2023 Edition
Make to Care 2023 is adorned in pink. The orthopedic corset turned fashion accessory and a software enabling girls with Rett Syndrome to communicate through the movement of their eyes triumph at the Sanofi Contest.
The projects Frida and Amélie share the victory in the eighth edition of the Contest, which rewards highly innovative ideas directly conceived by patients or those who care for them to truly improve the lives of those living with disabilities.
Technology and innovation challenging disabilities, demonstrating the ability to overcome taboos and barriers—this is the narrative of the two female-oriented projects, Frida and Amélie, honored in Rome during the Sanofi Make to Care Ceremony, the eighth edition of the contest that has seen over 600 submitted projects, 60 finalists, and 14 winners over the years, each time recognizing open innovation solutions for patients and caregivers that genuinely enhance the lives of those with disabilities.
FRIDA
Frida is the brainchild of Yasmine Granata from Sicily, a product designer who, after spending her adolescence wearing a brace for 23 hours a day, conceived and developed a new type of orthosis to correct scoliosis, involving experts and orthopedic workshops.
Thanks to her patented fabric, more breathable and lighter, and interchangeable details, she transforms the corset into a true fashion accessory. The device “activates” through electrodes and automated push pads that enhance the paravertebral muscles, even in the absence of corrective exercise: a system that can also be remotely controlled by the orthopedic doctor to monitor patient usage.
AMELIE – EYE TRACKING SUITE
Amélie – Eye tracking Suite, presented by the pedagogue Samantha Giannatiempo, is the result of collaboration between the AIRETT center in Verona and a team of therapists and engineers specialized in Rett Syndrome, a rare neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects girls, gradually causing loss of linguistic and motor skills.
Amélie promotes communication and understanding between caregivers and young patients, who can interact and play solely by moving their eyes, thanks to software connecting computers, smartphones, and an online platform designed for remote supervision by therapists and scientific data collection.
AIRETT – the Italian Association for Rett Syndrome – combines rehabilitation with research, as it is the latter that provides the necessary evidence to conceive, propose, and structure new research.
The outstanding value of the winning projects
Both solutions not only have the potential to assist people in their daily lives but, through data collection, provide important insights for the research and understanding of related pathologies.
Frida and Amelie will also receive support from Make to Care partners for the further development, implementation, and scalability of their projects and participate in a training and networking journey in an internationally recognized tech valley.
The prize up for grabs
The winners will have the opportunity to have an intense training experience in Israel, organized in collaboration with the Israeli Embassy in Italy, to discover the startup nation that is catalyzing the attention of innovators and investors.
The other MaketoCare 2023 finalist projects
Budd-e, by PoliMI, multidisciplinary team
New autonomous robotic guide for blind and visually impaired people that uses an innovative human-robot interaction system to support movement within pub spaces
Let’s do the shopping – by WeDo Fablab
A serious game which, through virtual reality, reproduces a supermarket in which people with cognitive disabilities can experience, in a protected mode, interaction with an everyday context
Flippy – by Valentina Segnalini & Gabriele Pollastrini
Project for children with visual disabilities aimed at developing motor skills and stimulating coordination through a play activity
StormyCraft – by F.A.I.S. OdV (Federation of Incontinent and Ostomate Associations)
Innovative technological solution to inform and support, through gamification techniques, children with ostomates and their families
Click here to discover all the winners from the past editions!
source: Sanofi I MaketoCare
cover image: the winners of MaketoCare 2023 I photo courtesy of MaketoCare
Maker Faire Rome – The European Edition has been committed since its very first editions to make innovation accessible and usable to all, with the aim of not leaving anyone behind. Its blog is always updated and full of opportunities and inspiration for makers, makers, startups, SMEs and all the curious ones who wish to enrich their knowledge and expand their business, in Italy and abroad.
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