Tunisian all-women’s team eye inventors’ prize for smart wheelchair

A wise wheelchair system constructed by a workforce of younger Tunisian ladies engineers has reached the finals for a prestigious European inventors’ prize, setting a hopeful precedent in a rustic embroiled in a number of crises.

Their mission, Moovobrain, permits wheelchair customers to maneuver by means of a alternative of touchpad, voice command, facial gestures or, most impressively, a headset that detects their mind indicators.

It has been shortlisted from over 550 candidates for the ultimate spherical of the Younger Inventors Prize, launched by the European Patent Workplace in 2021.

This yr marks “the primary time a Tunisian and Arab workforce has reached the ultimate” stage of the worldwide competitors, the EPO mentioned in an announcement.

The all-female workforce will compete in opposition to two different finalists, from the Netherlands and Ukraine, for the highest prize on July 9 in Malta.

The inspiration for the Moovobrain app first got here from co-founder Souleima Ben Temime, 28, whose uncle was “pressured to make use of a wheelchair to maneuver” after his higher physique was paralyzed.

“There was a transparent and pressing want in entrance of me,” she advised AFP.

“I talked about it to my mates and we determined to make use of the digital well being applied sciences … to make a product that might profit lots of people.”

Success in opposition to odds

The 4 inventors met on the Greater Institute of Medical Sciences in Tunis, the place they started growing the Moovobrain prototype in 2017, earlier than creating health-tech start-up Gewinner two years later.

The workforce’s worldwide success comes regardless of Tunisia’s rising financial and political turmoil in recent times that has pushed 1000’s of Tunisians to hunt a greater life in Europe by means of perilous abroad journeys.

President Kais Saied, elected in October 2019, has launched a sweeping energy seize since he sacked parliament in July 2021.

The political disaster has been compounded by a biting financial meltdown — however that has not dampened the younger ladies’s spirits.

Fairly, co-founder Khaoula Ben Ahmed, 28, is hopeful that reaching the finals within the Younger Inventors competitors will carry the workforce “visibility and credibility”.

“It is not all the time simple to persuade traders or wheelchair producers that our answer is really revolutionary and helpful for individuals with lowered mobility,” she mentioned.

For them, even “asking to be turned in the direction of the tv”, after they “can not converse, not have any autonomy, can grow to be very attempting on a psychological stage”, added Ben Ahmed.

Alongside Ben Ahmed and Ben Temime, the opposite workforce members are Sirine Ayari, 28, and Ghofrane Ayari, 27, who usually are not associated.

‘Favorable ecosystem’

The Younger Inventors Prize — which rewards “distinctive inventors beneath the age of 30” — awards a primary prize of 20,000 euros ($21,600), a second of 10,000 euros and a 3rd of 5,000 euros.

The workforce says being ladies was “a bonus” as a result of they have been ready to participate in competitions for feminine engineers and obtain specialised funding.

Greater than 44 % of engineers in Tunisia are ladies, in line with the United Nations, and Ben Ahmed says the nation has “a positive ecosystem” for start-ups regardless of its challenges.

Their start-up Gewinner will very quickly ship the primary 4 wheelchairs outfitted with the brand new know-how to a corporation for disabled individuals in Sousse, jap Tunisia. They hope for suggestions to enhance the product.

Internationally, Gewinner is specializing in Europe and has already established a partnership with an Italian producer within the quick time period.

The inventors say that although every sensible chair prices round 2,000 euros, they hope to make sure the know-how is accessible to as many individuals as doable, together with these in much less well-off nations.

“In Tunisia, we’ve ready 30 items, not with the concept that it will likely be the tip consumer who pays, however organizations supporting associations which is able to be capable to sponsor the acquisition of chairs or adaptation of our know-how,” mentioned Ben Ahmed.

© 2024 AFP