News
Crdl selected in TIME’s Best Inventions of 2023
Press Release 24 October 2023:
Dutch healthcare innovation Crdl [Cradle] has been included as a special mention in TIME’s ‘Best Inventions of 2023’. This annual issue of TIME awards inventions that excel in innovation and change how we live, work, play and think about what is possible. The final list is compiled on assessments of originality, efficacy, ambition and impact.
Crdl is an instrument enabling personal contact for people who have difficulty with verbal communication and/or social interaction, such as people with dementia, autism or intellectual or visual impairment. Crdl makes it easy to share an intuitive moment of attention, proximity and affection.
When two people each rest a hand on the wooden instrument and touch each other at the same time, mutual touches are converted into sound fragments and sounds. The variation in touch affects the sounds generated. This creates an incentive to engage each other through physical contact. And touch is deliberate, since it produces the “cuddle hormone” Oxytocin, which makes people feel more comfortable and experience an increased sense of connection.
According to the designers, touch is an effective way to express attention and engagement with someone. Sometimes it can be a hand on someone’s shoulder, or a heartfelt hug, expressing – without using a word: “I see you, you belong, you matter to me.” This contributes to a sense of dignity and helps one to feel part of a greater whole. This creates an encounter in which there is room for real connection, even when the right words can no longer be found.
The instrument is now in use at more than 1,500 healthcare locations throughout Europe, Asia and North-America and won a prestigious CES Innovation Award 2023 earlier this year.
time.com/best-inventions-2023/
https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2023/6327166/crdl/