Matebox: Matteo Scapin's therapeutic music box for children with disabilities

Composer and music producer Matteo Scapin (known as Matthew S, born 1989 in Thiene) has created Matebox, a prototype interactive box designed to help children with and without disabilities improve communication through sounds and images. The box features eight buttons on top and tiles with drawings, words, and Braille. It uses the PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) and Ableton software to produce different sounds. Scapin, who teaches music production at the Istituto Musicale Veneto città di Thiene and works as a school assistant, developed the prototype during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Matebox aims to enhance not only communication but also cognitive skills for subjects like math, science, Italian, and geography. A crowdfunding campaign has been launched on GoFundMe to fund the project.