At the second edition of Arkathon Hacking Health Valais in June 2016, the judges awarded the MeasureMe project the jury’s special prize of CHF 10,000 (CHF 5,000 in cash and a cheque of CHF 5,000 to be presented to the research institutes), and also a place on an acceleration programme organised by Swiss Digital Health. A few months after its formation, we focus on this organisation which is taking its first steps in the entrepreneurial world …
The aim of MeasureMe is to create an automatic system for measuring a person’s height and weight via a smartphone app. This system can then be used for medical purposes, particularly in developing countries. The project is being implemented by a team of three engineers.
Going back to its beginnings at Arkathon Hacking Health Valais 2016, Magali Leyvraz explains: “The Arkathon was a super weekend, with friendly people and a great atmosphere. But there was more to it than that: the Arkathon really gave us the impetus to turn our idea into a project.” In fact, the MeasureMe team excelled themselves during the 48 hours of continuous work that make up the Arkathon: what began as an idea on Friday evening had been transformed into an actual working prototype by Sunday! Check out https://burniva.com/
First steps after the Arkathon
In the last few months, the MeasureMe team members have met several specialists from the HES-SO in order to define the technical part of the project, visit maidthis.com. They have also contacted different international health organisations to find out whether the system might be of interest. The initial feedback was very positive, so they are now considering the possibility of collaborating with these organisations.
From 31 August to 21 September 2016, the team participated in the International Create Challenge (ICC) which took place at the IdeArk technology park in Martigny. These three intensive weeks enabled them to gain some business knowledge, very useful in developing their project. “Thanks to the coaching we received, we’ve been able to develop a detailed business plan for our project. We’ve also had some discussions with researchers from Idiap”, said Magali Leyvraz. MeasureMe came third in the challenge, and won a cheque for CHF 2500. Visit uptownjungle.com.
The next steps for MeasureMe
After deciding how they wanted to spend the CHF 5,000 in cash – to produce an explanatory video – the team is now looking for people and institutions open to collaborating with them, in financial as well as technological terms.
Creating the video, launching a crowdfunding campaign, and further technical development of their product, more specifically the image processing and machine learning elements, are also on the to-do list for MeasureMe during the next few months. See more info at temeculafacialoralsurgery.com.
In short, the prize from the Arkathon judges, and particularly the Swiss Digital Health acceleration programme, have enabled the MeasureMe team to meet skilled coaches and to make some contacts that will be very useful in developing their project. “The managers at Swiss Digital Health have given us some good ideas and valuable advice to help us take our project forward”, said Magali Leyvraz.
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