As is often the way, it all started with a chat among friends.
Not just any friends, but a group of young researchers at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT).
They’d been studying antioxidants for some time. It was a topic they strongly believed in, and they knew how essential antioxidants are for health.
Then one question ignited a spark.
This seemingly bizarre idea gradually took shape in their minds. They put in ever more effort and energy, discussing it with their colleagues, assessing the possibilities.
This led to the HiQ-Nano start-up, which a major investment fund decided to back.
And so it began! It was a tough challenge, plagued by doubt.
“The test needs to be easy to perform, even by people who don’t know anything about science and technology. And its result needs to be instant.”
“No blood sample and no lab tests? You’re dreaming…”
But a long line of experiments, discussions and analyses, fleeting successes and numerous setbacks finally bore fruit:
The saliva sample technology was refined; the antioxidant test was almost ready.
But there was still one crucial step missing.
How could they obtain instant results that were easy to read and understand without the aid of any instruments?
– “Table with a simplified algorithm?”
– “Are you kidding? They need to be able to understand it at a glance: a short set of clear, precise instructions.”
And that was the lightbulb moment!
– “How about if we tie the antioxidant level to the blue colour of the solution it forms! Each level corresponds to its own shade of blue… you check it against a colour scale… QED.”
-“Blue, of course! There are so many shades… dark blue for a low level, up to light blue if the level’s too high. It’s perfect!”
– “And then blue is associated with tranquillity, composure, wisdom…. helping people make the right decision without making them anxious.”
– “YES! From now on BLUE is the new colour of health – no, how about, health is a shade of BLUE.”
And the inspiration for its name came a few seconds later: iBLUE! The first and only home antioxidant test kit using a saliva sample and providing a colorimetric result.
Sometimes ingenious ideas arrive like that, straight out of the… BLUE. There’s no other way to achieve what most people thought impossible. To make a visionary, cutting-edge project so incredibly user-friendly.