A prize of one million dollars for the company Sesame Enable founded by two graduates of the Technion

The company, which develops an application for operating a smartphone without contact, won first place in a competition held by the communication company Verizon. Another prize was awarded to Voiceit, which was also founded by two Technion graduates

The company Enable Sesame, founded by Technion graduates Oded Ben Dov and Giora Livna, won the first prize - one million dollars - in a competition held by the American communications company 'Verizon'. Sesmi has developed an application that enables activation of any smartphone - for all its functions - with head movements and other movements. This application is based on the smartphone's built-in camera, without the need for any additional hardware.

The Powerful Answers Award is given in four categories - education, health, green technologies and transportation - for inventions that "make the world a better place". The total amount of the prizes is 6 million dollars, and the first prize in each category is XNUMX million dollars. "Sesami" won first place in the 'Education' category.

"Winning first place is amazing and exciting," Oded Ben Dov said today. "We received crazy exposure here, real recognition from the cellular giant Verizon, and a grant that will allow us to accelerate the development significantly and really reach all those who can benefit from our phone."

The company will start the new chapter in Silicon Valley - where all the winners will go through a special 'accelerator' designed to promote their companies and will have the opportunity to develop collaborations with Verizon. "In the coming year we will focus on finishing the device and its distribution, adding functions that will expand the audience of users, and expanding support for other devices such as a tablet.

"Maybe it's a cliché, but really the feedback we get from our testers, and from the general public, is more exciting than the monetary prize. We open a whole world to people who need it so much - people who are stuck in their homes. An accessible smartphone is a window to a world of content and connections that goes beyond physical limitations. I have no doubt that in the future our technology will be integrated into the operation of smart homes and the operation of lighting, television, air conditioning and more. For Sesmi this is just the beginning."

The story of 'Sesmi' can be started in November 2011 - the day Giura Livna, in his wheelchair, entered Ben Dov's office. "I want a contactless phone," he said. "And I understand that the technology you have developed can make this possible." After an initial development period, which led to a successful prototype, the two established Sesmi, headed by Ben Dov (CEO, graduate of the Technion), Livna (partner and investor, graduate of the Technion), and the main developer Valdi Ostrovsky - also, of course, a graduate polytechnic.
"This technology," Livna explains, "allows people like me to activate all functions on the phone - surfing, dialing, games, etc. - and in the future also functions external to the phone, for example turning on a light. For us, keyboards and touch screens are not accessible hardware, and the possibility to bypass them and operate a phone and computer opens a window for us in many areas such as society, employment and leisure."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZrWmuAPL60

The company Voiceitt, which was also founded by two Technion graduates, won the competition for a quarter of a million dollars, in the 'health' category. The company has developed technology that allows people who suffer from speech difficulties to express themselves clearly.

The CEO of the company is Danny Weisberg, a graduate of the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Technion, and the VP of Technology is Stas Tiomkin, who completed his master's degree at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Technion. They explain that Talkitt, Voiceitt's product, is intended for people who suffer from speech difficulties for various reasons, including birth defects, cerebral palsy, deafness, head injury, stroke and ALS. Talkitt learns the specific person's way of speaking in a few simple steps, and is then able to 'translate' their words in writing and in an intelligible voice. This is how society allows those people to communicate with the environment.

"Technology, if used correctly, has the power to reduce the gap between those with special needs and 'normal' people," says Weisberg. "Today there are already many applications that help those with speech difficulties to clarify themselves, but we decided to take the issue one step further."

Weisberg and Tiomkin make sure to give honorable credit to Yoav Madan of the Technion, who has accompanied them from a very early stage within the Technion for Life (TFL) program. "We met him at a conference in Haifa and he told us: 'You are my heirs.' He has many years of intuition, vast knowledge in improving algorithms, and a business card that says DOING GOOD. The connection with him is very important to us, and every time we have something to show, we meet with him."

Today, the company works with many entities, including Elin Hospital, Beit Eckstein and Beit Izzi Shapira, and is also establishing its presence in Australia and the USA. In the following link - the thank you video they prepared in honor of the win:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exJocNySrV0