TOM – Tikkun Olam Make-a-thon, is underway in Nazareth, Israel. In this Arab city, the hometown of Jesus, in an industrial complex built by Israeli Stef Wertheimer, makers, brain researchers, designers and physical therapists are empowering the disabled. Participants have 72 hours to build open source, affordable, working prototypes of devices and apparatus to improve their lives. “Tikkun Olam,” or “Repairing the World”, is a Jewish principle, and the guiding theme of TOM.

Projects include:

A 3D printed hand that enables a child born with out one to hold a ball

“Eye writer” glasses that control a computer

Crutches that convert to a walker

A pressure relieving method for wheelchairs

A device that cleans wheelchairs when entering a house

A headpiece with sensory abilities for the blind

A printed shoe for an injured veteran

A brain controlled a prosthetic arm

Participants include Sefi Udi, maker, engineer, designer, and quadriplegic, and Professor Nathan Intrator, whose non-invasive brain computer interface will allow Sefi to control a prosthetic arm with his mind.