DESIGN TO IMPROVE LIFE INVESTMENT
DESIGN TO IMPROVE LIFE INVESTMENT CANDIDATES 2015
WELCOME We are Design to Improve Life. This year, we celebrate the 10-year anniversary of ‘Design to Improve Life’, a philosophy that spread globally to embrace design that makes a social and environmental impact in the world. Over the span of the past decade, we have seen the pace of innovation take massive leaps in the way we work, learn, communicate and live. Innovation has shown that it can disrupt the way we live, it has the potential to disrupt the world for the better, and it should!
business mentoring with Boston Consulting Group consultants in their home countries followed by an intensive one-week Summer School program led by Accelerace, here in Copenhagen. The program consisted of essential business building blocks, such as validating business models, customer development, storytelling, crowdfinancing masterclasses and intensive pitch training, culminating in today’s pitch event. Our Investment Candidates will pitch their design visions, their needs and hopes for the future. And by drawing on our collective competencies and networks, we will For ten years, INDEX: Design to Improve Life® has strive to support our Investment Candidates to go focused on delivering the message that design can that extra mile in improving life. make a difference. We’ve seen designers respond to some of the world’s pressing challenges with I would like to express my gratitude to our partners intelligent, thoughtful and inspiring solutions. Boston Consulting Group and Accelerace for their It’s important now that we leap beyond inspiring, commitment and generous support in growing and support designers to realize and scale their this initiative with us. Most importantly, I would ambitions to make great ideas fulfil their true like to thank the Candidates for their dedication, potential. It isn’t just the job of designers to design courage and integrity to make the world a better to improve life, but a shared responsibility from place through design. governments, educators and investors, in order for the impact of Design to Improve Life to extend to We’ve built a strong global community of design the broadest reach of society. to improve life via INDEX: Award and all its initiatives. Now, the team at INDEX: Design to Taking a leap to support early-stage ventures that Improve Life® and I welcome you to be a part of are starting their journey is why we are here today. this investment platform where ideas come to We are excited to present to you our second cohort life, and we look forward to working together in of Design to Improve Life Investment Candidates. supporting design solutions that will positively Ten Candidates have been selected from our impact the world. INDEX: Award 2015 finalist pool, screened both in terms of their social and environmental impact, but also for their business potential. Throughout FELICITAS VON PETER CHAIR, DESIGN TO IMPROVE LIFE INVESTMENT the Spring of 2015, the Candidates have undergone FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER OF ACTIVE PHILANTHROPY
BE MY EYES
BE MY EYES: APP CROWDSOURCES VISION FOR THE BLIND IDA MARIE PIPER / IDA@BEMYEYES.ORG / (+45)60749425 / BEMYEYES.ORG 2
Be My Eyes is an app, which has changed the lives The sighted person simply takes a look, describes of more than 21,000 visually impaired. Our 1,000 what he is seeing, and then both of them move on days aspiration is to deliver independence to the with their day effortlessly. 285 million people with a visually impairment. The technology behind Be My Eyes is simple, yet Be My Eyes is the first app, which allows people extremely powerful. Users are connected via a live with a visual impairment to get in contact with video call using peer-to-peer technology. The syssighted volunteers via a live video call. Visually tem is built as a shuffle-call system, which forwards impaired often rely on family and friends to do the help request until a volunteer answers. Visually everyday tasks. But with Be My Eyes they can get impaired can lend a pair of eyes without deciding help 24/7 without feeling like a burden to anyone. who to bother, which creates independence. The system is built as a shuffle-call system, which forwards the call until answered, and more than 280,000 volunteers have already signed up to lend their eyes. Ken Kiwada explains that he is micro-volunteering, because “the idea that my tiny contribution made a difference in some complete stranger’s life, instantly makes my day really awesome”. Since the launch less than 7 months ago, Be My Eyes has helped more than 90,000 times. Imagine the frustration of being blind and wanting to know something as basic as allergen information on a food label. Little things like this, which the sighted don’t even give a second thought, can add a lot of hassle to the day of a visually impaired person. Now, with just a tap of a finger, the visually impaired can ask sighted volunteers to eliminate the complication. When the visually impaired has asked the community of volunteers for help, he gets connected to a volunteer, who speaks his language. When the video connection is established, the visually impaired explains his situation and points the camera of his phone at the problem at hand. This way the volunteer can get an overview of the situation.
We are crowdsourcing the translation of the app, improvements of the source code and the marketing. Be My Eyes has been translated into 90+ languages without using a dime on marketing or translations. The power of Be My Eyes is the power of the crowd. Be My Eyes was launched January 15, 2015. When we launched, we hoped that someday we would have a positive impact the lives of people with a visual impairment. We had dreams of reaching 1,000+ users within the first year. The morning after the launch, we had 10,000+ users spread all over the world. Today 283,000 volunteers have joined our community helping more than 21,000 people with a visual impairment. The app has been used more than 90,000 times to help a person with a visual impairment. Furthermore, we have been featured in prestigious media across the globe. Among others, CNN, BBC, Techcrunch, Huffington Post and many more.
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COCO
COCO: ERGONOMIC CONTAINER PREVENTS INJURIES FOR MILLIONS OF COFFEE PICKERS GABRIELA RAVASSA / GABYRAVASSA@GMAIL.COM / (+1)9172074810 / COCOBUCKET.ORG 4
The world’s population goes through 2.3 billion cups of coffee every day – that’s 26,450 cups every second. However, not many people know much about how our favorite hot beverage is produced.
Coco is still improving! This design is currently in product development and needs to go through a round of prototyping, field testing and further refinement, until every detail has been carefully thought out. Only then can it be introduced into Colombia is the 3rd largest coffee producer in the the industry and expand globally. world and 2.4 million people economically depend on the industry 25% of them are coffee pickers. As of this moment, the containers will be manufactured from recycled polypropylene and sold for One of the most vital, yet neglected roles in the around $20 USD each. In a system where workers coffee industry are the coffee pickers. They have earn just 20 cents for every pound of beans they to negotiate treacherous terrains, hauling some 75 pick, it could be difficult to convince farm owners to kilos of coffee beans throughout the day in large, pay for these revamped containers, but the benefits awkward buckets that stress their bodies leading justify the costs: improving wor-kers’ conditions to severe musculoskeletal and repetitive strain and comfort will improve their productivity. injuries – all for less than $20 USD a day. Coco addresses the conditions which coffee picThe existing buckets, known as sand-bags, are kers work under. Pickers have one of the most outdated and carelessly designed as they put important roles in coffee production, yet their immense strain on workers’ backs, and due to their effort is constantly overlooked. Coco aims to bring sharp edges dig into their thighs. This is one of the awareness to the unsung heroes of coffee with toughest jobs in the industry and because of this hopes of improving their working conditions. poorly designed and ill-fitting product, their wellbeing is in constant jeopardy. Coco is a design proposal that aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the worker through its improved design. The bucket has been ergonomically sculpted, to accommodate the legs’ contours, eliminating the issue of bruising their thighs. It also helps workers walk easily through treacherous terrain. The continuous handle is inspired by 3-handle laundry baskets allowing workers to hold the bucket more securely and comfortably. The flared upper lip eliminates the necessity of buying an extra accessory to reduce the risk of dropping beans on the ground. Coco’s comfortable waist straps and kidney belt includes a custom clasping system, encouraging farm owners to purchase them together, making it more likely that the worker will reap the ergonomic benefits.
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CROWDVOICE
CROWDVOICE: BRINGING CLARITY TO THE WORLD’S SOCIAL MOVEMENTS JULIA GOMEZ / JULIA@CROWDVOICE.ORG / (+52)3331710291 / CROWDVOICE.ORG 6
CrowdVoice provides a source of organized data regarding social movements worldwide. From media archives of articles, pictures, and citizen video, to interactive educational tools such as timelines and infographics that contextualize complex issues, CrowdVoice seeks to change the status quo through access to information. CrowdVoice empowers marginalized communities by drawing the world’s attention to underreported causes, and enables in-depth research by providing a wealth of media unparalleled by another singular platform. In this way, CrowdVoice is an invaluable resource to journalists, academics, and lawyers seeking to deepen their understanding of these movements. Additionally, CrowdVoice collaborates with on-the-ground grass roots organizations to illustrate their work and the cau-ses that drive them. CrowdVoice hosts interactive features like timelines and infographics that tell full, rich stories in an effort to lend context to ongoing problems, and to foster “at-a-glance” understanding of complex issues.
Guardian Peace & Conflict Monitor, Al Jazeera, and many other media outlets. The archives hosted by CrowdVoice afford journalists immediate access to up-to-date media as events unfold from a range of sources, and often in native languages which may otherwise hamper accessibility to foreign reporters. This preserved evidence is paramount to bringing about understanding and accountability, and furthers the interests of informed advocacy. The CrowdVoice team often receives messages from those whose research was aided by the site. The impact of the platform is perhaps best exemplified in this testimonial: “Interights is suing Libya on behalf of Libyans whose rights were violated during the crackdown on the protests in the winter of 2011. It is a very important case, and an exciting experiment in using citizen media as court evidence. When we launched the project, we had no idea where to start finding footage. CrowdVoice ended up being absolutely essential to us gaining access to powerful and disturbing citizen media. CrowdVoice aggregates and organizes visual and audio material so well, that it is in an invaluable resource for human rights advocates. We relied heavily on CrowdVoice to identify important video - it was our most important resource. We will certainly be relying on it again is we experiment with new ways to use citizen media to prove human rights violations.” – Adam Stofsky, Lawyer and Director, New Media Advocacy Project.
CrowdVoice was built to raise awareness regarding underreported conflicts and human rights movements throughout the world. CrowdVoice uses crowdsourcing technology to pull media from all over the Internet into a dedicated stream of articles, images, and videos, which then act as evidence archives, tracking the course of events surrounding various issues. CrowdVoice was founded with the belief that access to organized information is where meaningful change begins, and that wide awareness of pressing issues is the first step towards accountability and action. CrowdVoice is now in the process of developing its extendable tool, CrowdVoice.by. This new tool In addition to the 440+ topics on CrowdVoice, will be designed to benefit activists and grassroots the platform also hosts over 200,000 pieces of organizations that need a secure and efficient way approved crowdsourced media, which comprise to manage and disseminate media. a living archive of evidence that illustrates social movements from their beginnings to present day. Information found on CrowdVoice has been used frequently in reports by the UN Dispatch, the
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IKO
IKO: KIDS CUSTOMISE THEIR OWN PROSTHETICS WITH LEGOS CARLOS ARTURO TORRES TOVAR / DESIGN@CARLOSIDEA.COM / (+1)7736030224 / CARLOSIDEA.COM 8
The IKO Creative Prosthetic System is both a product AND a service, oriented as a Social Impact Project. Initially developed purely as a pro-duct, IKO is an innovative prosthetic arm empowering children with disabilities to discover their creative strength in social contexts. But over the last few months the system has also incorporated an important service element in the form of a campaign aimed at raising young people’s awareness of these disabilities. We believe that producing a wonderful, innovative product creating deep empathy for recipients within the hearts and minds of children is what, in the end, will make a truly deep impact in the world. The project was sponsored in an academic level by LEGO future lab and CIREC, a proof of concept prototype was done to inspire these sponsors, and as a huge insight we discovered that IKO can be used as an excellent tool for raising awareness in children about disability among their peers. Right now, a pilot campaign is being developed in Colombia in collaboration with Publicis (a multinational advertising agency) where kids around the country “donate” a LEGO brick of their own (as a symbolic donation, an empathy gesture) to collectively build 15 to 20 IKO prosthetic arms for selected kids from different regions around the country. Private organizations will fund the initiative with enough money to refine the design and fabricate these 15 to 20 IKO prosthetics.
Children with physical disabilities are an extremely vulnerable population - not only due to the physical condition itself, but also by the way they are frequently negatively perceived and treated by society and their peers (commonly in the form of bullying). To solve these challenges, IKO does two things: 1. Builds confidence amongst children with physical disabilities through the powerful act of play and creativity. This prosthetic system steps aside from what a traditional prosthetic is. It focuses on bringing a new mind-set to kid in terms of what the patient is able to do and incepts the idea of intelligence and creativity being strong drivers to move forward in life. The main concept of this project is to build and enrich self-esteem through a learning, creative and social inclusive experience. It’s all about kids being kids. 2. Creates empathy amongst peers by enabling collaboration during creation, hacking, and building together. From a 2005 UNICEF report, the population of children in disability in the world was estimated to be 150 million. In Colombia, CIREC confirms that more than 5,000 children lose or are born without one of their limbs every year.
Being a product capable of creating em-pathy amongst “normal” children, IKO has the potential As a closing event, some “donor kids” will be to impact millions on a social scale, in a single invited to deliver the IKO prosthetics to the kids country. who need it and build together as a symbol of social inclusion and empathy.
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OKHI
OKHI: A NEW ADDRESS SYSTEM TO PUT PEOPLE ON THE MAP TIMBO DRAYSON / TIMBO@OKHI.COM / (+254)723178381 / OKHI.COM 10
My house in Kenya has no name or number, there’s no street name or zip code. To explain my address, I have to use a long list of vague directions like, “turn left after the second speed bump by the big tree.”
We are currently focusing on improving the efficiency and customer experience for e-commerce and logistics businesses in Nairobi. We add value to these businesses in 3 ways:
1. Improve efficiencies by reducing delivery time Imagine that you lived in a country with no physical by 50%. address system. How much more difficult would 2. Enhance customer experience by cutting the # your life be without getting post delivered to your of phone calls per delivery from 3 to 0. door every day? What about if there was no way 3. Unlock growth by removing local knowledge for you to prove to a bank who you are? Or maybe requirements when hiring delivery riders. fatally, if an ambulance can’t find you in that time of need. In return for this, we will charge our customers a monthly software as a service fee. We are currently This is the situation for 44 million people in Kenya live in pilot stage with 3 companies in Nairobi, and 4 billion people worldwide who do not have a including Jumia (the Amazon of Africa) and Uber. physical address. We are a lean mean fighting team of 7 full time OkHi is a next generation address system. We are people with years of experience of working at unlocking commerce through enhanced logistics, companies like Google, McKinsey and ASOS and growing access to finance through better personal before that educated at top universities like Oxford, identification and saving lives through improved Harvard and McGill. emergency services. We raised $325k in October 2014 from investors Following a year of research and development in Silicon Valley, London and Nairobi, including where we tested 10s of prototypes with 100s of Patrick Pichette (CFO at Google) and Nathan people across 1,000s of journeys, we discovered Blecharczyk (CTO at AirBnb). the solution is simple. Your OkHi address is a high accuracy GPS point combined with a photo of your We have just opened up our second round of fungate. ding, where we are raising $700k. Think of the GPS point as similar to the street name in a developed country, it will help someone get close. Then just like a house number, it’s the photo of the gate that tells them that they’re exactly at the right place.
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PEEK RETINA
PEEK RETINA: SMARTPHONE EYE EXAMS COULD REDUCE BLINDNESS BY 80% STEWART JORDAN / STEW@PEEKVISION.ORG / (+44) 7928369325 / PEEKVISION.ORG 12
The majority of the world’s 39 million people living with blindness are from low-income countries, and 4 in every 5 of these people have a condition that could have been prevented or can be reversed. They are only blind because they did not receive timely treatment or any care at all. This is not a matter of medical inevitability, but one of access.
We’ve raised 130,000GBP through crowdfunding Peek Retina – putting us in the top ten most funded health products ever on Indiegogo. We have over 5,000 registered eye care organizations or individual users from over 100 countries who have expressed an interest in using Peek. We are actively working in eight countries.
They lack access to the necessary eye diagnostics, and treatment is usually only available in urban Our recent trial in Kenya where school teachers centres, far away from most people in need. were trained to use Peek Retina resulted in 21,000 children being screened in less than two weeks and Peek enables minimally trained people to perform 800 children with visual impairment identified. high quality eye assessments which can be Peek Retina is being used in the identification of interpreted remotely. Using the connectivity of a cerebral malaria, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, smartphone (including geotagging the patient’s cataract, and has also received interest from NASA location) and Peek’s infrastructure, we can ensure and the veterinary community. that patients who are treatable are also contactable and reachable. We were there first, we have a comprehensive system, we have the brand reputation, we’re focused The Peek Retina smart phone adapter enables on social impact, we developed our tools on the practitioners to perform exams anywhere in the ground across Africa in partnership with health world, without expensive equipment or complex care workers, ensuring they were suitable for both operational requirements. All that is needed is a the patients and staff who need them. We have smartphone camera, which, when held to the eye in close links to the major eye NGOs, Universities combination with the adapter, shows a high quality and in many cases Ministries of Health that are image of the retina. active in this area. There is no need to carry props like alphabet charts Our systems have been developed and evaluated as symbols recognized cross-culturally are display- with academic rigour, proving their accuracy and ed directly on the screen of the smartphone. The effectiveness. capability to simulate the patient’s compromised vision and contrast it with normal, healthy vision also exists simply by using photos on the device. We make tools that are drastically cheaper and easier to use, while still providing great diagnostic quality. We make diagnosis possible in locations it never has been before, and our system ensures that the patient, once discovered, is fully linked into the health care system, so their care pathway can be monitored and effective treatment ensured.
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SCIO
SCIO: NEW PRODUCT SCANNER TAKES FOOD TRANSPARENCY TO THE NEXT LEVEL ODED TALMOR & DROR SHARON / OT@CONSUMERPHYSICS.COM / (+972)544210482 / CONSUMERPHYSICS.COM
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Up until now, spectrometers have been large, expensive devices used in professional environments and laboratories. Consumer Physics radically miniaturized this established technology, making it affordable and accessible to everyone. SCiO is Consumer Physics’ first product. It is the first molecular sensor that fits in the palm of your hand. Consumer Physics technology places our bodies, the food we consume, the medications we are served, and the environment in which we live and work under our control. It is bound to improve all thes. Similar to the effect of user rating of various services on service quality, Consumer Physics takes democratization further, equipping individuals with means to develop their own molecular sensing models and mobile applications. This could have tremendous implications for research, education, food systems and our environment. Consumer Physics developed a platform that could allow both users, developers and students develop their own applications using the SCiO to personal or commercial use. The creation of the first database of materials could impact the way we interact with materials.
Consumer Physics won several distinguished awards such as the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers Award, UNESCO Netexplo Award, Consumer Electronic Show- Last Gadget Award, Thomas Edison Award, Stuff Award and a few more. The company launched a pre order campaign for SCiO on Kickstarter and quickly became one of the top projects ever. Overall, over 13,000 people pre ordered SCiO, and over 1,300 developers have signed up to the platform, aiming to start developing applications in dif-ferent fields and sectors. “Our short term goal is to make SCiO available to consumers around the world though retail channels as a stand-alone device. Longer term, our vision is to embed the miniaturized sensor inside every sensor, inside every smartphone, wearable, appliances thus impacting billion of consumers in a few years� Says Dror Sharon, the CEO of Consumer Physics.
The applications that could be developed on the platform are almost endless and it will allow users to explore more materials around them. Knowledge is power and that could have tremendous implication on food, research, education and our environment. SCiO is for anyone who would like instant information about the things they interact with and consume every day. It is also great for people who want to help develop a rapidly expanding database of useful knowledge that will benefit the entire community of users.
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THE SILK LEAF
THE SILK LEAF: MAN-MADE LEAF TO REVOLUTIONALISE THE AIR WE BREATHE JULIAN MELCHIORRI / JPMELCHIORRI@GMAIL.COM / (+44)7593655416 / ARBOREA.IO 16
What if we could create materials that photo- Silk Leaf & Exhale can be used for many indoor and synthesize, and how this will change the world outdoor applications : around us? ·· Indoor and street lighting. Climate change contributes to the deaths of ·· Tile systems, space division, free form 400,000 people a year, costing the world $1.2 architectural decoration, sun shades. trillion annually. From 2030, it will lead to ·· Building ‘roof top bioconverter’ with existing 250,000 extra deaths a year, costing 3.2% of ventilation system. global GDP. ·· Building ventilated facade. ·· Space travel and space architecture life support At ARBOREA, we developed ‘artificial leaf’ technosystem. logies to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, and bio-products. The aim is to enable a prosperous People that will benefit from Silk Leaf applications sustainable future through carbon-neutral cities. are : The Silk Leaf is the first man-made leaf which photosynthesize. The leaf consists of chloroplasts extracted from real plant cells suspended in silk fibres with revolutionary molecule-stabilising properties. The outcome is a living and breathing layer that – when provided with water and light – can mimic photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen for a constant indoor airpurification. Exhale is the ‘heavy duty leaf’ version which builds the foundations to solve the world’s biggest problems. It unlocks the power of microalgae for applications never thought of before, bringing biological resources in to our every day life.
·· People living in polluted areas who can increase their domestic and urban quality of life. ·· Students, teachers and academics in schools and universities. ·· Employees and clients in commercial offices and retail. ·· People with cystic fibrosis and hypoxemia in their homes. Silk Leaf, Exhale and their derivatives have enormous potential to improve and preserve life on Earth by efficiently absorbing carbon dioxide where it is mostly generated, reducing significantly global warming and its consequences while at the same time producing life-giving oxygen and bioproducts.
Exhale naturally convers carbon dioxide into oxygen, high energy potential biomass and bioproducts. This technology can be used for a wide range of applications aiming to solve the problem of global warming and air pollution by harnessing biological photosynthesis and microorganisms to convert waste into valuable resources: air-purifying products, urban development, waste management, etc.
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WRISTIFY
WRISTIFY: WEARABLE THERMOSTAT REGULATES YOUR BODY TEMPERATURE SAM SHAMES / SAM@EMBRLABS.COM / (+1) 6179477066 / EMBRLABS.COM 18
Much of the energy costs incurred by most people is temperature related. It’s costly to heat or cool down a room artificially to achieve a comfortable environment. In larger structures shared by multiple people with varying comfort levels, there might even be heaters running in one room and cooling units working in another. It’s an expensive problem – for bank accounts and the environ-ment. With Wristify, a single bracelet helps regulate the temperature of the individual wearer, rather than modifying an entire space and saving loads of money on energy costs. Not only does this solve the argument over how to set the thermostat, but it also saves a significant amount of energy.
technology. We provide control to anybody who struggles to stay comfortable throughout their day, improving their focus, productivity, and quality of life. Ultimately, we aim to use personal comfort solutions to save energy and reduce CO2 emissions by lowering and optimizing the HVAC load in buildings. Our embr wave™ platform will first gain traction among the 5 million fashion-conscious professional women who suffer from being too hot or cold in the workplace, a $1B opportunity in the US alone. More broadly, we appeal to all people who lack control of their thermal environment in places like the office, commuting to work, out on the town, and even at home with a roommate or spouse who disagrees over where to set the thermostat.
The bracelet can influence a person’s perception of how warm or cold a room feels by sending hot or cold pulses to the wrist. It’s comparable to the effect felt when a person dips their toes into a cool swimming pool, or places a warm washcloth on their forehead; it provides personalized thermal relief directly to the wearer.
Our embr wave™ platform leverages decades of research in thermal comfort, which has shown that you can increase personal comfort without changing the core temperature, but by changing the skin temperature instead. We don’t normally pay attention to our skin temperature, but the moment it changes, even in an area as localized as the wrist, the sensation grabs our attention and It’s the first wearable that does something our body affects how comfortable we feel. This is our natural craves, and finally brings decades of research in response to temperature change, but no one has thermal comfort from the lab to your living room. ever engineered around this idea. Wristify works right out of the box, providing immediate personal heating or cooling on demand. Wristify lets people take control by providing heating and cooling on demand, helping them to Wristify is a discrete, safe way of ensuring indivi- be comfortable so they can get back to their lives. dual comfort without excessive energy use or high On top that, Wristify is stylish and can be worn with cost. any outfit, so we no longer have to compromise between how we look and how we feel. In the future, Wristify will help enable a more intelligent, connected world by informing your home or office of your comfort in real time, helping buildings save energy and money. We are creating the most personal, sophisticated, and stylish comfort solution ever and are on a mission to change the way the world thinks about wearable
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YELLOWONE HANDSAFE
YELLOWONE HANDSAFE: WEARABLE ALCOHOL DISPENSER PREVENTS HOSPITAL DEATHS HÂN PHAM / HAN@YELLOWONE.DK / (+45) 61713554 / YELLOWONE.DK 20
All studies from World Health Organization show that good and proper hand hygiene can substantially reduce health care-associated infection rates and even eliminate them altogether. Yet, every year hospital related-infections, due to poor hand hygiene, kill 16 million patients worldwide – more than AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis combined. Health care workers are the most common mode of transmissions of pathogens to patients via their hands. And even though proper hand hygiene contributes significantly to patient safety – a well-known fact – hand hygiene compliance among staff is currently only at 40%.
Yellowone Handsafe has the potential to save lives by giving healthcare staff better access to wash their hands at the right times, and in the most efficient way. YHS enables doctors and nurses to spend more time on their core competences – namely the caring and treatment of their patients.
YHS has a strong signal value and improves safety for the hospital staff, patients and their relatives. Furthermore, YHS takes into account the aesthetics, signal value, visibility and identity, which naturally can be part of different hospital Studies show that there are two main reasons cultures worldwide. for 60% of the staff not washing their hands: 1) Hand hygiene is a procedure that takes a lot of Yellowone Handsafe is designed based on time. 2) Mobility is very high, so staff skip hand the insights of in-depth field observation of washing or hand disinfection when an emergency healthcare workers and their everyday challenges or unpredictable situation occurs – or when they at work, concerning hand hygiene issues. Today, are simply too busy. there are several types of mobile or wearable hand disinfection solutions on the market. However, Yellowone Handsafe (YHS) is a wearable, alcohol- most of the existing products are not designed based handrub dispenser that provides health- with the user in mind. In fact, many of them are care staff with easy access to hand cleansing not designed at all. These are standard plastic without having to leave the patient zone. bottles filled with different product brands. These bottles are difficult to use in busy and acute YHS is a low-cost and timesaving solution that situations, as they do not support the user’s supports the hospital staff’s workflow and tempo. workflow. Studies have shown that these bottles The dispenser is fixed onto a doctor’s coat or pants typically ended up in the cabinet not being used and the user simply reaches for his or her pocket, at all. presses the container twice gently, and antiseptic alcohol gel is dispensed into the palm. A different solution on the market is the wallmounted dispenser. This solution is dependent YHS is ergonomic and single-hand operated – it’s on infrastructure, which means that the healthsafe, easy and intuitive to use. In a simple, yet care workers have to spend time locating these highly effective way, Yellowone Handsafe faci- dispensers, and extra time to go back and forth if litates the right action to occur at the right time they should follow the WHO’s guideline concerin the right way, as recommended by The World ning hand washing before and after a procedure. Health Organisation. It improves hand hygiene by Therefore, they skip these extra steps, which supporting and promoting correct procedures result in low hand hygiene compliance. among staff and in the end it could save millions of lives.
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NOTES
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THANKS TO OUR DESIGN TO IMPROVE LIFE INVESTMENT PARTNERS
INDEX: DESIGN TO IMPROVE LIFE® IS UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF HRH THE CROWN PRINCE OF DENMARK. MAIN PARTNERS: THE DANISH MINISTRY OF BUSINESS AND GROWTH, THE DANISH BUSINESS AUTHORITY, THE CAPITAL REGION OF DENMARK. PROGRAM PARTNERS: A.P. MØLLER OG HUSTRU CHASTINE MC-KINNEY MØLLERS FOND TIL ALMENE FORMAAL, CROWN PRINCE FREDERIK’S AND CROWN PRINCESS MARY’S FOUNDATION, 15. JUNI FONDEN, AARHUS 2017, THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP, ACCELERACE, HENNING LARSEN ARCHITECTS, SAELAN, REPUBLIC OF FRITZ HANSEN, WORLD’S BEST NEWS. GLOBAL PARTNERS: HELSINGØR (ELSINORE). SPONSORS: OFFICIAL HOTEL PARTNER IN HELSINGØR: KONVENTUM. THANKS TO HENDRICK’S, COINTREAU, ELLO FOOD APS, SUPERMARCO, HOMEMATE, CLINT DIGITAL, FERRARELLE, NATURFRISK AS – ØRBÆK BRYGGERI.
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