A home rehabilitation system for stroke patients, an interactive toy for children to learn to read independently at home, a recyclable lateral flow kit, a kit to upcycle trainers are just four of 160 projects developed by the 2022 graduates of Brunel University London on show at Blueprints Made in Brunel, Oxo Tower Wharf, 16-19 June.

Part of New Creatives, Oxo Tower Wharf’s graduate season, Blueprints Made in Brunel showcases an extraordinary variety of design ideas solving everyday problems. Health, wellbeing, learning and the environment are at the core of many of the designs on show.

Discover inspiring work from the ingenious individuals shaping our future. Here’s just a handful.

Coverage Briefing
Remo, Wearable Stroke Rehab: Joshua Perkins

A wearable rehabilitation system for stroke patients recovering from functional motor impairments at home. It provides a solution for virtual rehab, brought about by long-term resource pressure on health services and recent covid-19 restrictions. Remo uses haptic vibration cues to provide live feedback to patients, indicating when the target range of movement or correct exercise technique is achieved. This allows the effective development of neuroplasticity, both passively, when the patient is taking part in daily activities, and actively when following an interactive exercise session on the Remo app. The unique ability to encourage and track movements of everyday activities improves the adoption of learned movement outside of rehab-focused context. In turn, increasing the likelihood of achieving full functional recovery.

Coverage Briefing
Riley The Reading Monster: Chloe McCourt

Many children do not get the support needed to develop their reading skills within the home. Learning difficulties with child or parent, a lack of interest or a lack of time are likely reasons. With an increase in households working there is greater pressure on parents to find time to support children with their reading homework. Riley the Reading Monster is an interactive toy for 3-6-year-olds aimed at learning phonics to allow them to learn to read independently in the home. By pushing the letter tiles through Riley’s mouth, the chosen letters display on the screen with the phonetic sounds projected through the built-in speaker. When the chosen word is displayed the green button activates the toy to phonetically say the word and then repeats it in standard English.

Coverage Briefing
Save Our Sneakers: Margot Mason

The footwear industry contributes 313 million tonnes of CO2 in a year, equivalent to annual emissions of 66 million cars. Unfortunately, 95% of the shoes manufactured each year end up in landfill. Save Our Sneakers encourages people to upcycle their old sneakers into unique, hand-crafted, functional designs. The project also aims to build a community of sustainable sneakerheads who learn and share skills together. Once signed up to the service, members receive their repair tool kit, instruction manual and online access to exclusive content, tutorials, and the community forum. Members are encouraged to apply their creativity reinventing their old shoes into their own unique creations.