Three inventive Illawarra high school students have been busy shining a light on loneliness.
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Piper Gillen, Molly Rigby and Hallie Reid attended Keira High School when they came up with 'Link Lamp': a quiet solution to a quiet problem, last year.
Piper now goes to Corrimal High School but it didn't stop her joining her fellow inventors during the school holidays to fine tune their Link Lamp project.
The trio created the Link Lamp to tackle the increased feelings of loneliness they've identified amongst their peers.
The girls hope the lamp will make people who are suffering from loneliness feel more connected to others.
"One of the main issues that we found was stress," they said.
"Most Australians deal and suffer from stress. A root cause of stress is loneliness. We suffer, experience stress and loneliness first hand.
"Our team wants to publicise that it is okay to feel this way and that they are not alone.
"We found that a light source can help de-stress and calm people."
Light Lamp is a set of smart connected lamps (two or more). When one person touches their lamp, a signal is sent to the other, lighting it up.
"This simple yet powerful gesture serves as a reminder that you're not alone. The lamp can also glow different coloured lights representing different feelings and emotions."
The trio added that knowing you are not alone also had a positive impact on your overall wellbeing.
The Link Lamp project has raised over $2500 through crowdfunding.
The money has enabled the team to create a prototype. They are now working on the technical and coding aspects of the lamp.
During the school holidays the girls participated in Young Change Agents' invite-only Youth Incubator at Atlassian - a program giving young entrepreneurs access to industry mentors, emerging technologies, workshops and strategy session
This social enterprise inspires young Australians (aged 10-18) to come up with world-changing business ideas, develop actual prototypes and crowd-fund to get their concepts off the ground.
Young Change Agents CEO and founder Margaret O'Brien said after creating the Link Lamp concept, through the Young Change Agents program, the girls were able to develop the concept to full start-up stage.
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
