Here are the winners of the Bevica Seed Grant 2024

Boundless makes the festival experience accessible to more

‍The Boundless app aims to improve accessibility at festivals and concerts and make wayfinding easier for more people — including guests with physical and cognitive impairments.

With universal design as a foundation, Boundless caters to a wide range of users — including festival organisers, security staff and guests.

In the app, users are given an interactive map of the festival area, where potential barriers are highlighted and where users can customize the view according to the specific needs users may have. For example, wheelchair users can customize the experience so that they see obstacles such as stairs, rough terrain, missing ramps or inaccessible toilets more clearly.

The app also includes a real-time view of crowds and queues, and users can also self-report newly encountered obstacles such as muddy terrain, thus contributing to the continuous improvement of the festival experience for everyone.

Behind Boundless are the three DTU students Emilie Kathrine Theill Gorski Nielsen, Julie Amanda Jonassen and Marcus Arnfast Lauridsen, who want to make a difference so that more people have a good experience at festivals.

At Boundless, we believe festivals should be a place for everyone. Through universal design, it is our vision to create inclusive environments where everyone can move freely, where barriers are removed and where joy is shared. Receiving the Bevica Seed Grant means a lot to us as it recognizes our vision and allows us to transform it from prototype to finished product.

^{- Winners of Bevica Seed Grant 2024, students at DTU}

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Boundless will receive DKK 80,000 for further development of the prototype.

BreatheWise — help to manage anxiety and stress

BreatheWise is a so-called wearable device that, through haptic feedback, helps the wearer with guided breathing in order to better manage anxiety and stress, for example.

The project aims to increase the mental well-being of people with an often overlooked and invisible disability, and with universal design as a design premise, the creators want to give people with both motor and cognitive challenges better access to the product.

BreatheWise began as a personal bio-hacking project, with one of the founders looking for a non-medical solution to help him manage his anxiety, says Björgvin Hjartarson, who together with Lars Riisdal and Carl Emmerik Rohde is behind BreatheWise.

Our hope is that we will be able to test and spar with a broader representation of the population and develop a more holistic and inclusive solution.

^{- Björgvin Hjartarson}

“Universal design has been a key tool in helping us move from a personalized solution to universal solution that we hope will benefit many people other than ourselves. Having been awarded the Bevica Seed Grant helps us by financially enabling the validation of our solution. In addition, it opens a door for the Bevica Foundation and their knowledge and experience with universal design”, says Björgvin Hjartarson.

BreatheWise receives DKK 20,000 for the development of the prototype.

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