The TechSAge Design Competition seeks to inspire talented college students from around the world to develop innovative technology-enabled design solutions for the aging population. Students are encouraged to partner with an older adult to develop a creative solution that responds to their user needs and everyday challenges.
Designed solutions may be products and/or systems including but not limited to ambient technologies, wearable devices, mobile applications, assistive robots—in the broad areas of design and computation, including industrial design, interaction design, graphic design, human-computer interaction, human factors, software engineering, and artificial intelligence, to mention a few; and can be entered under one of the following categories:
-HEALTH AT HOME -SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS -ACTIVE LIFESTYLE -COMMUNITY MOBILITY
Prizes: The TechSAge Design Competition 2018 is a two-phase competition. Ten (10) finalists will be selected from Phase I to move to Phase II. Each finalist will receive $250. In phase II, one (1) winner will be named for all categories mentioned above. The top scoring submission will be awarded the “First Place Prize” and will receive a cash prize of $1000.
Submission materials: For Phase I, the submission material is a poster 24 inches by 36 inches describing the conceptual thinking, motivation and concept generation, different views of 3D representation, solutions described in use (i.e. storyboard/scenario), to mention a few. Important: the solution MUST showcase the partnership with an older adult to develop a creative solution that responds to their user needs and everyday challenges.
For Phase II, a revised poster 24 inches by 36 inches and a video up to 5 minutes in length are the submission materials.
Important dates: Phase I Submission Deadline: March 25, 2018 by 11:59 PM EST Contestant notified of Phase I outcome: on or before April 15, 2018 Phase II Submission Deadline: May 15, 2018 by 11:59 PM EST Contestant notified of Phase II outcome: on or before June 1, 2018
A talented group of experts on product design, universal design, technology design, human-computer interaction, robotics, design research methods, and aging will evaluate the submissions.
The competition is organized by the Rehabilitation Engineering Rehabilitation Research Center on Technologies to Support Successful Aging with Disability (RERC TechSAge; techsage.gatech.edu) at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).
To learn more about the competition, please visit the following website: techsagecompetition.com