Sixteen high school seniors at the Experimental Senior High School of University of Macedonia (Thessaloniki, Greece) founded Isometricks in October 2022 in the framework of the JA Greece Company Program. With a vision to create value for the society and convince people that playing is a serious matter, they created Wizzle (wizard+puzzle).
Last week, Ralph de la Vega announced the 2024 winner of JA Worldwide De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award competition: Isometricks (JA Greece), students at Experimental Senior High School of the University of Macedonia and winners of the 2023 JA Europe Gen-E Company of the Year competition. The team won US$15,000 cash prize for its product Wizzle, a 3D-printed puzzle game with medical and educational applications. The five other JA student companies also won US$5,000 each, courtesy of the de la Vega Family Foundation.
Wizzle by Isometricks: Because playing is a serious matter!
For Isometricks, playing is a serious matter. The company’s product, Wizzle—a combination of the words “wizard” and “puzzle”—is an open-ended game of thought and creativity with hidden math and educational and medical applications. This pioneering collection of colorful tiles is designed according to mathematical rules (each puzzle is designed by members of the Experimental High School Math Club with dynamic geometry and 3D modeling software) and assembled with mosaic logic, providing endless possibilities for creativity and custom-made editions, unprecedented for the global market. From the very beginning, wizzle became popular, so we took the 3D printers home to work 24/7 and meet the high demand.
As a non-digital, hands-on learning experience, Wizzle is a valuable educational tool for teachers and students, enabling inclusive learning experiences for those with dyslexia and for refugee students who struggle with language. Additionally, Wizzle is a promising non-pharmaceutical intervention suitable for people of all ages with mild cognitive disabilities.
Wizzle begins where other puzzles leave off
Wizzle is a pioneering collection of colorful tiles designed according to mathematical rules and assembled with the same rules and mosaic logic. It provides endless possibilities for creation as it can be solved in many different ways, creating many different shapes and patterns. You don’t need to know the formal language of mathematics to play Wizzle. But if you are interested in its hidden math you can find more information on our website: https://sites.google.com/view/wizzle. Also, on our website, you can interact through the creativity and learning community and even design your own unique Wizzle through the DIY interactive application.
Medical & Educational applications
“Playing is not a luxury. It is a necessity. People do not stop playing because they grow old. They grow old because they stop playing. We have a game thas serves as medicine for the mind”.
Isometricks offers a non-electronic game in an electronic world which focuses on logic, imagination, memory, promoting spatial and fine motor skills. Wizzle is based on symmetries and symmetries are very important to human life as they consist patterns of development in the natural world. Humans are made of symmetries, surrounded by symmetries, think and function with symmetries. We “speak” the global language of symmetries from ancient times until today. The cognitive neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene argues that what differentiates the human mind is its geometric intuitions.
As a promising non-pharmaceutical intervention, it is suitable for people with cognitive disabilities including dementia. The Greek Association of Alzheimer’s Disease already uses it in patients with dementia and has included it in two research programs. Wizzle has also aroused the interest of the World Health Organization for the diagnosis and treatment of long COVID symptoms such as brain fog.
As a hands-on learning tool, it is valuable for educators and students as it visualizes mathematical rules and thus cultivates a visual literacy useful for Geometry. Wizzle is based on symmetries and symmetries are found at the foundation and the discovering methods of geometrical thinking. Furthermore, Wizzle is also suitable for learners with dyslexia and for refugee students who struggle with language, promoting inclusion. More than 50,000 students at over 200 schools already use Wizzle as an educational tool.
“After this incredible journey, and thanks to JA programs, we are no longer the same. All these milestones have moved us from the side of observers to the side of game changers”.
Info
FB: https://www.facebook.com/isometricks.ja &https://www.facebook.com/JuniorAchievementGreece
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jagreece/
Instagram: @ isometricks.ja & @ja_greece