The pandemic has exposed many aspects of society. Among them is the unfortunate situation in which seriously ill people find themselves in their last moments and are not even allowed to see their families. Due to this, many families have not been able to say goodbye to their loved ones. These are extreme cases. Nevertheless, scenes like these moved Sphaira’s founders, Moritz Eichhorn and Janis Münch, to find a solution that would allow patients and their relatives, doctors, and caregivers to be safe and close to the isolated patient.
For example, it is often not possible for patients with a weakened immune system after chemotherapy to receive visitors. Since the infection risk is too high, these people find themselves in medical isolation. Changing this is the goal of our project Moby with the Berlin-based startup Sphaira Medical. In various articles about the company Streetscooter and the electric scooter startup UNU, CEO Janis Münch noticed that PEM Motion was mentioned as a project partner in each case. Proactively, the founder contacted us, and shortly after that, we had the first conversation with Gerd Macherey, Director of Engineering and Validation, in which he outlined the idea of MOBY. Naturally, we were immediately interested.
The idea was elaborated and concretized in a first workshop with Sphaira. We first developed a mock-up for the young company, in which critical ergonomic parameters could be tested and adjusted. This prototype is intended to convey an initial sense of space. How does a patient get along with the vehicle? Can it also be used by people with limited mobility? And, how can the vehicle be efficiently and thoroughly disinfected? Our concept features rounded edges to ensure this. This means it can be cleaned quickly and used safely in a hectic everyday hospital or in an elderly care environment. We are proud to be the engineering and development partner in such an important project.
