It’s difficult to imagine the challenges facing one with cerebral palsy or other musculoskeletal disorders and developmental disabilities, especially kids who under normal circumstances love to run around and play games. Sensart, a Skolkovo resident company, has developed a rehabilitation device called Surfancy that encourages children with physical disabilities to develop their motor and logic skills and monitors their progress.
Surfancy is a relatively simple touch device that can create a high-definition interactive screen on a flat surface where the user can play a game that requires special physical exercises for muscle development and the restoration of lost functions due to disease. A demonstration can be seen in this video. Although such movements could be challenging for kids with physical disabilities, the games act as a distraction while they develop their logic and motor skills. The games include the use of logic such as chess, art therapy, and game mechanics for developing physical skills and kinesiotherapy.
Image: Sensart.
Initially, Surfancy was intended for retail use on shop fronts where customers could browse products using a touchscreen, but Sensart decided to aim for the rehabilitation and education sectors. While the startup is focusing primarily on the Russian market, it also has and is seeking clients abroad, particularly in Southeast Asia and the United States; most clients are medical centers, schools as well as medical center integrators.
What advantages does Surfancy have over competing products? For starters it is cheaper, it can be set up in a matter of minutes, the touch area size is adjustable, and it can be used on pretty much any flat surface whether it is glass, brick, or a screen.
Sensart is currently participating in the international accelerator ED2Tech where 250 startups have a chance to find partnerships and investors as well as receive individual coaching. As part of the accelerator, it plans to collaborate with teachers and specialists from rehabilitation centers in order to create new content and add functions to their development.
One of the challenges facing the company is the search for long-term clients. In order to expand its marketing capabilities, it hopes to find an investor so that prospective clients, particularly the health service, understand how much they could benefit from employing Surfancy as a means to treat patients.