Tiny gadget with potential to change lives

HULL ENTREPRENEURS’ NEW DEVICE LETS CHILDREN LOG THEIR FEELINGS

IT IS a worry almost all parents will experience. How is their child doing? Where are they and how are they feeling? If they were unhappy, would they be brave enough to tell you?

Now a team of Hull entrepreneurs have come together to launch a new gadget which lets children log how they are feeling and lets their parents find out at any time and in any place.

Moodbeam is a piece of wearable tech that has the potential to change lives. With an expected launch of early 2019, the invention is one of the most exciting upcoming projects in Hull.

Jonathan Elvidge, who launched both The Gadget Shop and Red5, is one of the founders and directors of Moodbeam.

He said: “I have been involved in some big projects over the years. Most recently I sold Red5 in 2015, when I felt it was the right time for my exit from retail.

“The next challenge is Moodbeam. We have tested prototypes so far, and the full launch is expected in spring 2019.

“This has the potential to truly change lives for the better. It is a really exciting thing to be involved in, and although I am biased, I really think it is going to be a winner.”

Children will be able to wear a Moodbeam device on their arm, and will be able to share how they are feeling, at any time, at the touch of a button.

An app will then let parents know how their child is doing. They can also track what their child has told Moodbeam over a period of days or weeks.

Moodbeam said it had “provided a simple-to-use solution for a very real problem”.

“Founded in 2016, Moodbeam was inspired by a seven-year-old girl struggling to deal with a tough situation at school,” the company says on its website.

“Her mum, our co-founder Christina, was left wondering what it would be like to know how her daughter was feeling when she wasn’t with her.

“She knew that this was a situation not unique to her, but shared by thousands of other parents.”

Moodbeam has a top team of some of Hull’s most prominent tech minds behind it.

Co-founded by Christina Mchugh and Jonathan Elvidge, the line-up also includes Hull’s Digital Ambassador David Keel, RB’S site lead Dr Bruce Charlesworth, and C4DI’S John Connolly.

The tech has the potential to change lives for the better, and it is being created right here in Hull.

“This has the potential to truly change lives for the better. It is really exciting Jonathan Elvidge