The call for projects "StartupsVsCovid19" offered 15 start-ups financial support of up to €150,000 each to develop innovative technological products and services intended to limit, or even overcome, the economic, health and societal effects of the coronavirus crisis. 5 of them talk about their projects and how they contribute to the fight.
Augmented reality temperature screening
Specialised in the design of novel augmented reality (AR) solutions for the healthcare market, Arspectra is developing thermal cameras for screening the temperature of people in places with a high throughput, such as airports. Its ArviGuard mobile headsets equipped with thermal sensors and AR capabilities will allow police officers, security agents or healthcare staff to measure the temperature of multiple people simultaneously and detect potential COVID-19 cases without any close contact.
“ArviGuard will significantly reduce the risk of contamination and enable agents to make quick and fluid health controls,” says Head of Product Development Arnaud Legros.
Optimised ambulance dispatching
Mobility tech start-up Utopian Future Technologies provides an end-to-end Software-as-a-Service platform for on-demand ride pooling to Europe’s largest operators and transport authorities. “With COVID-19, the number of non-urgent ambulance trips increased strongly,” says co-founder and CEO Jean-Luc Rippinger. “The dispatching is handled manually and lacks optimisation and transparency.” The company is now developing a smart dispatching system that optimises and coordinates ambulance routes through algorithms and automatically schedules vehicle disinfection following interventions related to COVID-19 cases.
Enhancing communication with intensive care patients
SOVI Solutions is specialised in assistive technologies, in particular augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) software. It is currently adapting its communication tool for intubated and hospitalised COVID-19 – and other – patients. “Intubated patients generally have difficulties expressing themselves verbally and making their needs understood,” explains co-founder Alessio Weber. “Our software will include artificial voice communication for intubated patients, as well as a cloud-connected symbol-based communication system to be used between patients and care givers.”
The solution, which can also be helpful for foreign-language patients, will improve patient services, save time and reduce communication barriers.
Promoting online peer learning
Adapting to online education during the COVID-19 related lockdown was challenging for many students. CoCo World, a social start-up committed to promoting peer learning, studies students’ online education experience during confinement and found that they missed a dedicated space to study with their peers.
“Our Peer Square solution is an online study platform for secondary school students in Luxembourg, powered by AI to optimise the online learning experience,” says founder Caroline Assaf. “It will allow them to learn from each other and with each other by engaging with a community of peers, finding peer tutors and arranging individual or group study sessions.”
Coupling Earth observation and COVID-19
GlobeEye® uses Earth observation data to develop insights for the asset management industry. The startup’s project “Space-to-Breath” is aimed at identifying and tracing the distribution and sources of polluting gases believed to have an impact on the dissemination of COVID-19.
“Research argues that air pollution is highly correlated to the spreading of the virus and the severity of the symptoms,” explains Board Chair Dr Silvia Pepino. “We will use satellite and other remote sensing data to map levels and changes in polluting gases in the atmosphere. This work can be helpful for future planning and policy actions related to a broad set of health and climate problems.”
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