“The Innovation Centre of Eötvös Loránd University places great emphasis on developing the university’s external industrial partnerships, as well as on international brand building, an important element of which are our social innovation projects presented today,” said Dániel Magyar, Head of the Centre. In addition to involving external resources, the Centre supports university projects with internal university applications for funding and industrial property rights consulting, which is essential for successful market uptake.

Attila Ulbert and Tibor Kecskeméti introduced the Emdee Skin diagnostic application. Melanoma is cancer that is the easiest and the most difficult to cure at the same time. In the case of an early diagnosis, the five-year survival rate is 98%, whereas, in the case of a late diagnosis, it is only 22%. In the multidisciplinary research project of Semmelweis University and Eötvös Loránd University, artificial intelligence (AI) developed by university researchers is able to classify skin lesions according to hazard levels in just a few seconds and draw users’ attention when they should see a dermatologist. The application may also be useful for dermatologists: early diagnosis leads to fewer serious cases and fewer repeated or unnecessary operations. Another important mission of the creators of the application is to improve health awareness in Hungary. The free image recognition software can be downloaded here.

Ádám Miklósi and Krisztina Liszkai-Peres presented a package of applications, mainly suitable for 4-6-year-olds, developed by Hungarian research psychologists, biologists, and computer scientists in the ELTE Alpha Generation Laboratory. The main objective of the social innovation is to offer children using tablets or mobiles such age-appropriate and child-friendly content that improve their cognitive and problem-solving skills. The Alfi application package transforms tablets and phones. The devices designed primarily for adults become child-friendly gadgets just like children’s bicycles are equipped with some support or extra bell compared to their counterparts used by adults. The application allows the parents to monitor how the little ones use the device, and also to set screen time and various other limits. Another great benefit offered by Alfi is that it helps to develop and practice social skills, inviting children and their parents to play together. The new version of the phone application made together with UX experts will be available from the summer of 2022. The trial version can already be downloaded.

Being one of the flagships of Hungarian research, development, and innovation, Eötvös Loránd University considers it imperative to inform the widest possible spectrum of society about the scientific results achieved in its workshops and make them available to the public in a comprehensible form and an easily accessible way. The next press breakfast will be held on 26 May, when the university drug development programmes will be in the focus.

The regular press club is supported by the National Office for Research, Development and Innovation in the framework of the project MEC_N 141307. The Innovation Centre also presents regular podcasts in Hungarian: ELTE InnoCream seeks answers to the question of how innovations help society and individuals – in other words, what tomorrow will be like.