Vicenzaoro Hosts Industry's First Ever Hackathon

Vicenzaoro January, staged the first edition of The Gold Run, the jewellery technology hackathon for more than 60,000 students and researchers, devised in collaboration with Padua University within the context of T.Gold.

The Gold Run opened Vicenzaoro to fusion with the world of research, bringing the industry closer to the academic universe and adding further vigour to the innovativeness of the event. Thanks also to the support of leading companies in the jewellery technology sector – such as Legor Group, Sisma and Better Silver – and the AFEMO association, which groups together jewellery machinery manufacturers and exporters, thousands of young people were able to translate the multi-disciplinary skills on which the sector is base, from chemistry to physics, from design to the implementation of digital technologies, into unprecedented and tangible projects.  

The Call for Ideas launched by IEG and Padua university focused on a new concept of wearing jewellery interpreted in a smart key by the five best projects selected and presented in front of an advisory board consisting of companies and key players within the sector.

Agata Pappalardo illustrated her APS – Accurate pH Skin – prevention system that can be incorporated in even the most refined jewellery. It is able to notify, in real time, any excessive pH values in the organism in order to stave off inflammation and skin problems.

Elinoor Castellan, with her Cultural Jewel, offers the ideal synthesis between jewellery and the artistic heritage of our country: a unique bracelet, suitable for men or women, that vibrates when the wearer is approaching a place of cultural interest. Thanks to a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection to a mobile phone, the wearer will be able to see a detailed layout of the site and decide whether or not to visit it. 

Linda Farinetti with This is Love, has created jewellery able to help women in danger. Thanks to a GPS tracking device and a button to press in critical moments, any jewellery item will become a terminal for transmitting a signal to the police or the authorities of reference. To reassure the person in difficulty, the jewellery will release drops of perfume as a sign that the call has gone through.  

The bracelet with solar cell heating, devised by Paolo Federico, offers the wearer a warm feeling that activates greater blood flow from the wrists into the hands when they are particularly exposed to the cold in winter. The battery-run bracelet recharges itself in the sun during the day.

Simone Gennari, with his Tempus Fugit project, whose core is the LifeTime hourglass, invites the wearer “to measure time in order to experience it”.  An item with a soft and minimal design that contains thousands of bright yellow grains of sand – seconds, minutes, hours, days and years – a monument to the importance of the sinuous sequence of time.

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