Flowlin

A smart object that makes it easy to stay focused at work by preventing interruptions from coworkers and apps

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Staying focused is hard.

In this distracted and distracting world, getting the best out of our abilities is more difficult than ever.

So we made Flowlin.

Now, you can simply tell Flowlin for how long you would like to stay focused and Flowlin will:

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1. Turn on the backlight to indicate to your co-workers that you shouldn't be disturbed.

2. Connect to your phone and enable Do Not Disturb.

3. Connect to your computer and turn off notifications.

Application render

Team members


I'm from Turkey and currently studying masters in electronics engineering at EPFL. Has always been excited to learn and be challenged. Very excited to face the challenges of CHIC and to work in a multicultural and diverse team.
Profile picture of Berk Olcum
  • Berk Olcum

  • Electronic Engineering
  • EPFL
From Geneva, for some I am Swiss, and for others French. Currently studying microengineering at EPFL with Axel, I have already had the opportunity to work on some projects outside of my studies and I am ready for new challenges (& pizzas) !
Profile picture of Kevin Sin
  • Kevin Sin

  • Electronic Engineering
    Firmware Engineering
  • EPFL
French - Swedish and Master's student in Microengineering.
Profile picture of Axel Nilsson
  • Axel Nilsson

  • Software Engineering
  • EPFL
I come from Geneva. I am currently on my second year of Bachelor at ECAL as a product designer student. I've always been curious about how things work and are made. This interdisciplinary project is such a great experience to be part of! I'm looking forward to working with the group.
Profile picture of Amandine Gini
  • Amandine Gini

  • Industrial Design
  • ECAL
I'm currently studying Interaction Design at ECAL and love to create. I've traveled around the world and built apps. Now, I'm very excited to take part in the CHIC adventure!
Profile picture of Nathan Vogel
  • Nathan Vogel

  • Software Engineering
    User Experience
  • ECAL
I'm a Master's student of Information Systems at the University of Lausanne. I already gained valuable insights about business from doing internships. CHIC is an excellent opportunity of working with a group of motivated people to create something new, to be innovative and immerse in a new and challenging experience.
Profile picture of Sandra Uebelhart
  • Sandra Uebelhart

  • Business
  • UNIL

Contact us

Our blog


Border Ecologies – Migration

July 30, 2018

The border between mainland China and Hong Kong is unique in the world. They were once one country and after a century of separation they are one again, but only… [...]

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Border ecologies – Middle Class

July 27, 2018

The idiom “middle class” has only specific definitions, no outwright meaning is linked with the term even though it is used by most. Actually cities or countries can have their… [...]

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Two days of work in HongKong

July 26, 2018

Monday Back to work! Monday was a very packed day. We started with a presentation at HKinvest in the morning where we got to understand better the HongKong market which… [...]

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Education system: Shenzhen & Hong Kong

July 25, 2018

One country, two systems does it also count for education? The aim of this article is to highlight the differences and similarities between the education systems of Shenzhen (China) and… [...]

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23rd July, day full of visits

July 23, 2018

Morning at the Skytop with InvestHK [gallery ids="8588"] After a packed weekend full of cultural experiences we were ready to start a new week of the CHIC. Pitches and interesting visits… [...]

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Transfer to Hong Kong University (HKUST) and activities during the free Sunday

July 22, 2018

Departure from Shenzhen and arrival at HKUST Saturday, we had to transfer from Shenzhen to Hong Kong. For this, we had the meet up at 10am in the lobby of… [...]

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Huawei visit in Shenzhen and transfer to Hong-Kong

July 22, 2018

Dear CHIC community,   Yesterday we transferred to Hong-Kong. It was a very long and tiring journey, because first one need to pass the Chinese customs, pass many security checks… [...]

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Last days in x.factory towards the functional prototype

July 20, 2018

Dear CHIC community, On wednesday only a day after the assembly of the main PCB of our device, we received the second PCB for the backlight. On the same day… [...]

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Pitches and PCBs in the making

July 18, 2018

After getting some components in Huaqiangbei, we went back to work on Monday. We were supposed to get the PCB in the morning, but there was another delay and we… [...]

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Huaqianbei, eldorado of my heart

July 15, 2018

I am happy to write to you because the last three days have been the time for us to discover in depth the famous Huaqianbei electronics market.  Huaqianbei (华强北) might… [...]

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In our own flow towards a fully working prototype

July 13, 2018

Jet lag is getting better every day but we have a lot of work remaining and consequently the nights are short. During our second day at the coworking space of… [...]

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China, here we are!!!

July 12, 2018

Day 0 and Day 1 We arrived in Shenzhen yesterday evening after a very tiring adventure. We all met on Monday morning at EPFL for an entire day of pitching… [...]

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New name new identity … Flowlin !!

June 4, 2018

  Dear CHIC Community,                                                    … [...]

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A last sprint before the last milestone… But not the last before China!

May 29, 2018

Dear CHIC community,   Just a quick message before the final Milestone presentation (in Switzerland!) and before leaving for China! We finally implemented the first technical prototype: We have integrated… [...]

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Convergence towards a shared common goal

May 21, 2018

Dear CHIC Community Our trip to China is getting closer and we have to get some major pending work done. Berk is currently working on the final touch of our… [...]

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Do Not Disturb While Focusing

May 12, 2018

Dear CHIC community! In order to move forward more quickly, we’ve decided to start focusing less on getting feedback from users of our early prototypes, but to start more concretely… [...]

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Milestone 4

May 6, 2018

Dear CHIC community!   The Milestone 4 is now behind us! We were able to present a 3D printed mockup of our product, a first digital mockup of the PCB… [...]

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Five weeks left!

April 29, 2018

Dear CHIC community!   As the next Milestones arrives on May 4th the past week challenged us to take some decisions and further initiatives.   The conundrum we have been facing… [...]

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Team outing & field experiment at Internef

April 21, 2018

Dear CHIC community, We have the pleasure to announce you that on 17th of April 2018, we conducted our first public survey at the Internef building! We contacted the libraries… [...]

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New Steps after Milestone-3

March 29, 2018

Dear CHIC Community, Last friday, as a team, we had the chance to share the evolution of the project since the kick-off weekend. We have shared new design mockups, wireframes… [...]

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You create opportunities by asking for them

March 11, 2018

This week we applied the so called “get out of the building approach” mentioned by Steve Blank in his article about positive outcomes of applying the Lean method. “You create… [...]

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Classifying distractions

February 27, 2018

While reflecting about the best way to organize blocking behaviors of our product, I tried to categorize sources of distractions. I came up with this classification which is now helping… [...]

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Can I kick it?

February 18, 2018

In order to prepare the Kick off week-end our team tried to meet although some of the members had enjoyed their free time away from School in their home country.… [...]

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1st meeting of the year 2018

January 7, 2018

As we all are on holidays some of the team members couldn’t come to this meeting. Kevin managed to be present via Skype which is also a great way for… [...]

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First Prototype

December 17, 2017

The days before Christmas are always stressful. This year in addition to present purchases and school deadlines we also want to progress within the CHIC project. Amandine, our product designer,… [...]

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Happily Ever After

December 13, 2017

Last Tuesday we decided to turn our weekly meeting into a less formal meeting. Instead of our regular meeting routine, we had a game night to celebrate Milestone 1. Taking… [...]

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How to get things done?

December 3, 2017

With the milestone coming up, many things came through for team CHIRCLE this week. The “Problem exploration” Milestone happened on the 1st of December and the three teams participating (Chircle,… [...]

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First convergence steps

November 25, 2017

On Tuesday, we all met at the EPFL Rolex Center to discuss the survey and let all team members present fresh ideas for the project. Our brainstorm session yielded a… [...]

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Pitching workshop & first meeting with our mentors

November 19, 2017

Dear CHIC Community, This week we had a kind of animated week with two special events: On Monday, we had the chance to take part in a pitching workshop led… [...]

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First meeting!

November 8, 2017

Hello CHIC community!   Yesterday evening we finally had the chance to proceed with our first meeting! After a great dinner together, where each one of us contributed in bringing various… [...]

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Ready, Steady, Go!

November 2, 2017

After our first weekend during the ideation workshop, all participants of the CHIC-2017-2018 edition have finally had a proper introduction. The workshop has given us the opportunity to get to… [...]

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Border Ecologies : Food safety

July 26, 2018

Hello everyone, for this border ecology, let's talk a bit about the food safety around this two wonderful lands. The first thing you have to know when you go to… [...]

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