An app that helps people remember to complete daily tasks wins the challenge
Between school desks and workplaces, technology can offer the right tools to facilitate the inclusion and full realisation of people with disabilities. In order to come up with immediate and facilitating solutions to practical obstacles, with the Ask&Hack: Ventu-Ritmo project, we experimented with a new collaborative working model between people with trisomy 21, high school students and university students. In particular, the final prototypes of the apps were developed by the students of the Andriano institute of Castelnuovo Don Bosco (Asti) with the AirDown students and presented yesterday in a final challenge at the CNA headquarters in Turin. The project was promoted by Sys-Tek and Fondazione Mondo Digitale ETS, in collaboration with AirDown, CoorDown, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo and Fondazione Zoom.
During the January sessions, girls and boys delved into design thinking and the use of the Marvel prototyping platform. They also met people with Down syndrome to better understand their needs and, finally, challenged each other in a hackathon. After the challenge was launched, four tables, consisting of university students, high school students and people from the Airdown association, were organised to work on the solution to be presented to the jury of experts. Each group designed an app mockup capable of addressing a specific need, identified by focusing on the needs expressed by the person with a disability. The winners have the opportunity to enjoy an exclusive experience at Zoom, the immersive bio-park in Turin.
The winners
- Best project: group I Giuliastici, with an app to help people remember to complete daily tasks (e.g. shopping, preparing a sports bag, etc.).
- Most inclusive project: group Gli Albertini, with an app to raise funds for the homeless (a theme very dear to Alberto, combining the difficulty of relating to new people and the desire to give concrete help to people in difficulty)
- Most innovative project: Tina.Map group, with an app for managing and simplifying the use of transport
- Most effective project: Gemma group, with an app to help organise shopping.
