Data, fun, and inclusivity for a therapeutic game revolutionizing language rehabilitation by blending tradition and technology.

The 2024 edition of Startcup Lombardia, the competition organized by Lombardy’s universities and university incubators and promoted by Regione Lombardia – General Directorate for Economic Development and MUSA, has concluded. Among the winners in the categories of ICT & Services, CleanTech & Energy, Life Sciences & MedTech, and Industrial Technologies, an intriguing project stands out: Leximore, supported by the Politecnico di Milano. This project focuses on developing an immersive and modular therapeutic game technology for children with and without special needs.

Leximore is a tool designed for therapists and caregivers of children (aged 4-13) with language disorders. It takes the form of a board game that facilitates linguistic and cognitive development through high-quality content created by universities, combining traditional therapeutic methods with technology. Leximore also enables access to new activities, real-time customization, and patient progress tracking, all through an intuitive interface.

“With Leximore, we created a technology that makes therapy feel like a board game—very easy and intuitive,” explains Eleonora Beccaluva, one of the Leximore designers. “It’s designed to enrich and simplify therapy for various contexts, from children to the elderly. With our tool, therapy becomes more enjoyable and less exhausting for therapists, too.”

“Our project also creates a virtuous cycle between therapy and research by generating a significant amount of data,” the researcher continues. “This data, collected from daily use in therapy centers, can be utilized in academic environments to further explore and study these types of disorders. Additionally, we have a positive impact on patients, as the therapy becomes more engaging, and on therapists, who are supported by a tool that eases part of their workload.”

Looking ahead, Beccaluva states, “We aim to complete the technology readiness level (TRL) of our project, make it more mature, and find investments to bring it to market, ensuring it becomes widely accessible at a very low cost.”