The Boston Globe’s weekly Ocean State Innovators column shares stories with Rhode Island innovators who are starting new businesses and nonprofits, conducting groundbreaking research, and reshaping the state’s economy. We feature Q&A. Send tips and suggestions to reporter Alexa Gagosz. alexa.gagosz@globe.com.
Name a problem and there are probably dozens of apps that claim to help solve it. Rhode Island’s tech industry is small, but it’s home to a group of young entrepreneurs who are finding new ways to innovate. Here are some things to keep an eye on as we head into 2024.
R3: New app to help people with IDD report abuse
A team at the University of Rhode Island has developed a new free app to help teach adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities how to recognize and report abuse. R3: Recognizing, Reporting, and Responding educates people with IDD about different forms of abuse, how abuse occurs, and when they encounter abuse or see others affected by abuse. We will explain in detail what to do about the so-called abuse. We have a direct contact point in each state to learn about the signs of abuse and how to report abuse to authorities. Learn more about their technology here.
Sift: A new way to find used clothes online
Many Americans who want to buy used clothing are at a crossroads. Shopping online can be time-consuming, inconvenient, and frustrating. Used items span dozens of platforms, including eBay, Depop, Poshmark, and TheRealReal, but most resellers label their products inconsistently or incorrectly, making them a common text-based Search doesn’t work well. Three Brown University students founded his Sift, a free browser extension that helps consumers find secondhand alternatives to clothing they are interested in purchasing online. Learn more about their technology here.
Restaurant: “Open Table” for private events
Booking a private event typically means consumers have to call a restaurant listing and hope the right person will speak to confirm prices and other details. To do. But in most cases this is not the case. In July, local entrepreneur Nick Cianfaglione launched Restaurante, a new technology startup to ease the event planning process. “I like to describe the restaurant as an Airbnb or an open table for private events,” Cianfaglione said. “Someone can easily access our platform and tell us how many people they want to host, a specific date, their budget, and show us which venues are available for rent.” Learn more about their technology here.
Student Ally: An app that helps reduce sexual assault on college campuses
Approximately one in three women and one in six men will be sexually assaulted at some point during their four years in college. Alex Romano quit his job as a lawyer to focus on reducing these statistics. Mr. Romano has been working on the development and launch of Student Ally since his 2016. He said the new app could reduce the number of sexual assaults on college campuses, while also helping people report assaults. It is a technology platform that combines student-facing applications with a variety of back-end systems that allow university staff to assist in the event of a student assault. Learn more about their technology here.
SOMA: An app that wants to understand your pain
A new mobile app developed by researchers at Brown University’s Brain Science Institute seeks to understand what happens in the brain during the transition from acute to chronic pain. The app, SOMA, is designed to directly support individuals with chronic pain and collects data that helps researchers predict how someone’s pain becomes chronic. Learn more about their technology here.
Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com.follow her @alexagagosz Check out @AlexaGagosz on Instagram.