Because of her mother’s condition, Leah went to learn more about mastectomies. She also got the following feedback from her mother’s doctor: “the bras I get at my hospital, I have to take a pair of scissors and cut them. Because they’re cutting into the patients, and causing wounds. Sometimes we’ll use safety pins to actually pin the drain bulb on the bra”.

This made the student to want to come up with a solution that would solve all of these issues. That’s how the Resilience Bra was born.

Nkululeko was always a tech lover and has been creating inventions since he was a kid.

The gadget he invented is called Bulatsela, and consists of a walking aid that relies on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning features to interpret surroundings in order to help blind users navigate through traffic.

Roopam Sharma, born in India, in 1995, lives in the USA, is a scientist and innovator, having had studied Bachelors of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering. In 2015, during a firsthand blindfold experience to his eyes, Roopam spent 30 minutes of his life in the darkness. This made him think about blind people and how he could work to help improve their lives.

Sean developed an autism awareness sign to help notify his neighbours of some atypical behaviours his son might display on Halloween night when he's out trick or treating. This way, Logan, who is non-verbal, can wear a costume and still trick or treat normally.

Ben had been kicked out of his university when he was 19. That meant that he would have no place to stay.

However, the family wasn’t aware of Ben’s stress. Not only Ben kept this secret, but also Bristol University, where the boy studied, didn’t pick picked up on various clues as to Ben’s mental health problems.

Jon, as an anesthesiologist, saw several foot amputations among patients with diabetes that were caused by infected foot ulcers. “My dad is a veteran, and he gets his care through the VA (Veteran Affairs). And when I’d go with him to the hospital, I’d see a lot of veterans in wheelchairs. A lot of people assume that’s from combat trauma, but it’s usually from diabetes. Some days, I would spend the entire day doing nothing but amputations. It’s a major problem we haven’t really moved forward on”, he explained.

The eWhistle is worn like a regular whistle by the referee but has a transmitter. It is worn by the athlete like a watch. When the whistle is blown, an electric current is sent to the transmitter, via radio, which signals the user. This way the athlete is notified by the referee by vibration and LED lights. The transmitter-receiver system works like a doorbell, but with light and vibration instead of sound.

Parker wanted a way to make physical therapy more enjoyable so that he and other suffering from this and other conditions would have an easier life. So he came up with a virtual reality physical therapy.

Olivia designed this cap to reduce harmful sounds, which can be adjusted for a snug fit over the baby's head. But first she came up with a sound box and discovered what materials might work to bring down the decibels in order to build the special hearing device for premature babies.

“(With) premature babies, their auditory system is not fully developed. They are born early, so these sounds that can seem normal to us are actually really hurting their ears. I feel like it’s a really good problem to address. I’ve always had a special connection to premature babies”, she explained.

One time, at the hospital, Nick saw a little girl having a difficult time with her IV pole. That’s when he had the idea of building build IV pole “lily pads”. This solution is a skateboard-like device that allows patients to get around the hospital easier. Instead of struggling to walk, a child could ride on the colorful platform. The board can be customised according to the child’s preferences.

Once Natalie was diagnosed, Susie spent hours researching what (if any) Girl Scout cookies were safe for her, etc. That’s when she realised that existing solutions are fragmented and over-generalised.

“I was pretty convinced my daughter needed this tool and it wasn’t out there. And if I didn’t do it, I wasn’t sure who would,” the mother said.

Rose spent some time studying and working in Ecuador, in 2015 . One day, a group of medical students from other universities had set up a makeshift clinic, but it was closing — and all the optometry equipment had been packed away.

An old man came to get glasses but as there were plenty of glasses, there was no way to test the man’s vision to determine his prescription. This is what made Rose think of a solution.

Post-mastectomy patients can decide if they want breast reconstruction or get breast prosthesis that goes inside a specialised bra with a pocket or a normal bra. But the prosthesis offered by the NHS are not very comfortable.

With the help of her friend Sam Jackman, and with feedback from some of these patients, Rosie invented colourful, lightweight, breathable and comfortable prosthetic brests designed to help improve the quality of life of patients who underwent mastectomies. She used 3D printing technology.

Robert has received a lot of blood transfusions since he was very young. When he was 16, he decided to focus his career on something that would help him and other patients with thalassemia improve their lives.

The device, a patented prototype, was first built as a thesis project when Christopher was a student. It features a forward-facing 3D depth-mapping camera on the top, along with dual eye-tracking devices pointing in at the wearer's eyes.

This technology allows users of electric wheelchairs to navigate without their hands. The technology would also allow users to communicate to a robotic platform when they would like to use an object, such as a glass of water.

After seeing the experiences of friends and family, Anupam started working on something that would help with tremors and eating.

The devices rely on a technique that uses active cancellation hardware, which is currently used in noise-cancelling headphones. Anupam figured out how to make active cancellation hardware small enough to fit within the tremor-cancelling spoon. The utensil stops the bowl of the spoon from moving even while the handle itself may be trembling, which lets users can eat without spilling.

After seeing that person, who was his own age, Paulo decided to do something. HOOBOX Robotics first product, Wheelie 7, is the world’s first face-controlled wheelchair. It allows users to initiate moves like going forward, turning, and stopping through nine distinct facial expressions, allowing them to be more independent. The innovation uses machine learning to recognise the users’ expressions.

The kit takes seven minutes to add to a wheelchair and is easy to install. There is no need to buy a new wheelchair or to train the user and the caregiver.

“I designed the app I wanted”, Saqib said. He has been blind since he was seven. He wanted to invent an app that would help blind users navigate the world more easily.

So now he leads the Seeing AI project, at Microsoft. This project’s product consists of an iOS that brings together image recognition, with a "talking camera" and a natural interface, so that blind users can walk around more easily.

Seeing AI relies on artificial intelligence (AI) and image recognition. The tech analyses the image and identifies what’s there.

Juliano Oliveira Cravo, born in Brazil, in 1979, is a DJ who was a law degree and who built a system, in 2018, that allows the user to control electronic equipment with the voice. He created this technology for Sandro Francisco da Silva, a tetraplegic man.

Sandro became a tetraplegic more than 30 years ago, after a car accident. He can only move his head and neck. It was very hard for him to have to even ask for help for simple tasks such as turning on the light, especially when he was home alone.

When Sofia was born, Marinalva realised her daughter would need special resources like speech therapy, so help her develop her speech. She wanted to have those resources in her home, so she sought help from Alessandra Alaniz Macedo, a professor at Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.

As soon as the two of them realised the current technologies didn’t meet Sofia’s needs, they decided to create their own solution. That’s when, in 2016, SofiaFala was born.