News

IED at Maker Faire Rome 2024

Date

10 October 2024

Eleven games to be played “blindfolded”, which are mainly intended for children, but can be played by anyone to promote personalized and inclusive learning.

A Occhi Chiusi is the project that IED Roma will present at the next edition of Maker Faire Rome, the most important European event dedicated to innovation, returning to the Gazometro in Rome from October 25 to 27.

Students from the Bachelor's Degree DAPL in Product Design IED Roma, supported by the blind designer and artist Lucilla D’Antilio and coordinated by professor Mauro del Santo, have designed and created eleven projects that aim to facilitate learning through play.

These games are to be played while blindfolded, stimulating all the senses except sight, which, due to technological advancements, is increasingly subject to overstimulation for young children. The use of educational tools that engage different senses represents a significant opportunity for IED to promote more inclusive and personalized learning.

With the increasing use of devices that prioritize visual engagement, the "A Occhi Chiusi" project aims to rebuild awareness of how all senses contribute to healthy and creative development, and to offer solutions for alternative educational practices that could prove valuable for learning in children with cognitive difficulties and specific disorders.

At the twelfth edition of Maker Faire Rome, IED will present the results of this work and offer the chance to try out the eleven prototypes and participate directly in experiments, both through activities at the stand and dedicated workshops for children. This will allow the young designers to observe the effects on the audience and refine their proposals, hoping to make them concrete and effective for presentation to specialized companies in the sector.

The IED team will also preview an evolution of some of the proposals developed by the students, enriched by scientific contributions from MUSE (Museum of Sciences in Trento), with whom IED collaborates for the development and dissemination of this project.

The young designers involved in the project include Daniele Abbati, Riccardo Amore, Giulia Azioneti, Lorenzo Benetti, Fabio Caricato, Sofia Di Furio, Francesca Gallace, Ester Maria Guazzerotti, Paola Hofmann, Alessandro Malaspina, Lara Mucci, Ludovico Muratori, Francesco Poletto, Federico Vicario, and Giovanni Zimatore.

The project will be showcased in Area S - Booth S.01-S.02.

A Occhi Chiusi develops within a broader research framework in the field of Design for Children, which IED has begun to explore by connecting design disciplines with pedagogy and the school environment, and which includes the launch of the Master's Program in Design for Children for this academic year.

The theme will also be explored during Maker Faire with the talk “Design for Children: Designers and Educators in Dialogue,” scheduled for Saturday, October 26, at 1:30 PM in Room 41. This will feature four interior and product projects dedicated to childhood, developed by IED graduates, and commented on by the President of the Montessori Foundation Andrea Lupi and the coordinators of the Master in Design for Children, Laura Negrini and Mauro Del Santo.

You can find ALL the information about the upcoming edition of Maker Faire Rome HERE.