The Distributed Design Platform is an international platform created to be an exchange and networking centre for the emerging field of Distributed Design. The aim of the initiative is to develop and promote the connection between designers, makers and emerging digital and local markets.

From 2018, the Polifactory research group, a research lab at the Politecnico di Milano that explores the relationship between design and analogue/digital manufacturing to promote a new culture of making, joins the DDP network to share its projects and talents.

YEAR 1 | FABCARE
Design Anything, Make Anywhere, Care for Anyone.

The first year of research resulted in the FABCARE project, an experimental initiative to encourage independent designers, makers and innovators to design open source products in the field of healthcare.

The distribution of these products was intended to take place via digital platforms, while their materialisation was linked to Fab Lab, i.e. digital fabrication labs created to provide access to the environment, skills, materials and advanced technology to enable anyone, anywhere, to design.

In collaboration with the Centro Medico Santagostino, the idea behind FABCARE was to support the creation of healthcare products developed by designers and makers involving in the process also end users, such as innovative patients and caregivers. This proposed a revolution in the healthcare sector by exposing it to the values and ideals of an open and distributed type of production.

The designs that have been developed in the research area do not represent medical devices, but rather solutions that provide visual or informational supports for prevention or monitoring of the problem or disease for which they were designed. Ultimately, FABCARE devices can be defined as first-stage open source solutions that can be freely implemented following the instructions provided by the CC-BY license.

The five projects selected by a panel of experts in design, healthcare and digital fabrication to be developed and prototyped at Polifactory by a team of designers and makers supported by technicians, lecturers and researchers at the Politecnico were:

• DermAware, a digital bracelet to educate people on the burden associated with atopic dermatitis;

• Dermap, a device that supports people in measuring the evolution of their vitiligo;

• Mole Mapper, a small tool for your skin health. Keep your moles in check and share info with your doctor;

• Palpatine, an analogue wearable educational device to learn the correct breast palpation techniques;

• Zero2, a device for patients with respiratory deficienty used to monitor their blood oxygen levels.