Device wins hands-down

A young inventor with Kiwi roots has raised more than £16,000 (NZ$30,000) in Kickstarter pledges to fund a device he created to prevent face touching amid the coronavirus pandemic.

During 2018’s cold and flu season, teenager Max Melia, who lives in the British city of Bristol, came up with an idea to help stop its spread, involving a wristband that vibrates to alert the wearer they are about to touch their face.

Two years later as the world grapples with coronavirus, the now 15-year-old has developed the idea into a working prototype called VybPro. Max sprang to action when parents Richard and

Natalie Melia, of Auckland, were struck down by coronavirus, which they believe they contracted on the London Tube.

‘‘I thought it would be a good time to bring it in and help reduce the risk of transmission for a lot of people,’’ he told Stuff.

A study by the University of New South Wales in Australia found students touched their face 23 times per hour, and most of those touches made contact with the mouth and nose.

Natalie Melia said the device would be useful for when Britain’s lockdown restrictions were eased.

‘‘I think people are really looking for ways to protect their health and keep things safer.’’

The patent-pending wristband uses movement-sensing technology, with algorithms to determine hand movements close to the face.

Use of VybPro is not limited to preventing transmission of Covid-19, Natalie Melia said, adding that it could help prevent the spread of other viruses and by those trying to curb a nail-biting habit.

A pair of wristbands will market for £89 – about NZ$170 – with profits used to donate wristbands to healthcare workers and rest homes.

Max is hoping to raise £60,000 in Kickstarter pledges by August, for production to start in September. Natalie Melia said she and Richard were both ‘‘very proud’’ of Max, as he had managed to get the idea off the ground while they were both ‘‘so ill for months’’.