MUSICON
An instrument, toy and laboratory in one. MUSICON is gaining recognition of children from various parts of the world
Project title
Musicon - innovative music teaching and therapeutic aid for children and teenagers.
Name of Beneficiary/Beneficiaries
M Sp. z o.o.
Name of programme
SMART GROWTH OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME
Competition
Fast Track
Project value
PLN 1,465,745.43
Funding value
PLN 1,090,244.93
Project delivery period
Between 1 November 2017 and 31 October 2018
Meet our team
View the results of our work
What problem is addressed by the project?
Meet the Musicon - a state-of-the-art and revolutionary educational device. Its assets include originality and focus on comprehensive development of the youngest children. You do not have to sit straight at your school desk to learn with Musicon. On the contrary, it is not allowed!
Learning with Musicon is never boring. It is an instrument and a toy, a mechanical device and laboratory, allowing children to discover sounds as means of expression at the meeting place of the senses, intuition and mechanics. Musicon works on the same principle as barrel organ or music box - simple mechanisms trigger sounds. The device inspires, fascinates with movement and sound, and above all with an infinite number of possibilities. In a simple way (with the use of buttons) it unlocks children’s curiosity and creativity, with the use of the universal language of music.
The Musicon design was developed by Kamil Laszuk as a graduation thesis at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław. The artist combined two of his passions, design and music, which have a huge impact on the psychophysical development of children. Works on the project were continued by an interdisciplinary team of specialists in the field of engineering, education and music. The prototype of this instrument-device was built in 2016, and was ready for mass production.
The success is owed to a “family start-up”. Kamil Laszuk, his sister Ida Laszuk and their friend, Jakub Kozik gathered together a team of over twenty specialists. This team, also thanks to the European Funds granted by the NCBR, can develop and create a Polish product/project which not only goes beyond art, but also helps to achieve business goals.
Who uses the project results?
In our view, Musicon is a vehicle of imagination and creativity. This is how it is perceived by the youngest children, for whom it was created and who are our target group. It is difficult to measure to what extent it is fun or education for users. For children, spending time with the device is only fun. Parents and teachers see some learning taking place during such play - this inseparability of the two areas constitutes the strength of our project, which is intentionally not easy to categorise. What is it exactly? An instrument or a mechanical educational device?
We are pleased to inform you that the project rapidly expands to international markets. It is ordered by individuals, schools and pre-schools, and museums preparing exhibitions for children. It was presented in New York, Singapore, Lima, Berlin, Prague, Paris, Copenhagen and many other cities. It gained recognition in numerous design and educational competitions, including
- Polish Product of the Future 2020 (Poland)
- EdTech CoolTool 2020 (USA),
- Micro-enterprise of the Year 2019 (Poland)
- Bett Awards 2019 (United Kingdom),
- Gess Education Award 2018 (Dubai),
- Reimagine Education 2017 (USA),
- iF Design Award 2017 (Germany),
- Śląska Rzecz 2017 (Poland),
- Selected 2017 (Spain),
- Micro-enterprise of the Year 2019 (Poland)
- Red Dot Design Award (Singapore),
- Core77 (New York).
Kamil Laszuk was also ranked 8th on the list of 50 Most Creative People in Business published by Brief.pl, and was listed in Forbes’ “30 under 30” ranking.
What was the greatest challenge during project implementation?
During project implementation we had to deal with the need to find appropriate technological solutions for the device itself and to maintain the highest possible sound quality. Since the very beginning, our priority has been product safety and delivery of highest quality Musicon, aimed at educating next generations. Our wish to incorporate all this in our project turned out to be a challenge, yet it did not prevent us from completing the entire undertaking and launching it on the market.
Our advice for other applicants
In our opinion, as regards preparations for conducting any R&D project, it is essential to plan the activities listed in the project with utmost care. Of course, the staff engaged in the project is also a very important aspect, and it is crucial to think over and plan it thoroughly.