Announcing the Finalists of Our Third Annual Design Challenge!

Today we’re very proud to announce the twelve finalists of the Stanford Center on Longevity’s third annual Design Challenge. University students from around the world submitted dozens of excellent entries around this year’s theme, “Using Happiness to Optimize Longevity”, with finalists coming from as far away as Taiwan and Turkey to as close as Berkeley and San Francisco.

This year’s Challenge has two categories, Mind and Mobility, reflecting the Center’s mission to help people reach old age mentally sharp and physically fit. In alphabetical order, the 2015-2016 Design Challenge finalists are:

Bath Chair: Portable bath which helps the mobility-impaired safely bathe while maintaining a seated position. (Team lead: Tzu-Ping Hsu, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology)
City Cart: A combination walker and cartdesigned to help users with mobility issues safely and easily take shopping trips. (Team lead: Brandon Lopez of San Francisco State University.)
Dex: Smart insoles with pressure sensors and a health monitoring system which monitors users’ gait and recommends game-based exercises on their smartphone. (Team lead: Elyn Wu of the National University of Singapore.)
Echo: Audio simulation kit helping people recently visually impaired to develop auditory awareness of their surroundings. (Team lead: Yee Jek Khaw, National University of Singapore)
FamilyTree: Pairs of potted plants integrated with Internet-connected sensors, so families separated by distance can help each other monitor, care for, and grow their plants as a shared goal. (Team lead: Carrie Gladstone of UC Berkeley)
FILLanthropy: Volunteer matching service for people of all backgrounds and interests to help share their time and talent with each other. (Team lead: Annabel Chen, Stanford University)
Memoir Monopoly: Rehabilitation game platform for dementia patients, engaging them through interactive challenges. (Team lead: Szu-Yang Cho, National Taiwan University)
PicMemory: Therapeutic mobile app helping people with dementia organize their life stories while facilitating family interaction. (Team lead: Hung-Chi Lee, National Taiwan University)
POTALK: Potted plant with watering system triggered by a microphone, encouraging isolated people to talk with others. (Team lead: Hsin-Yi Tung, National Chiao-Tung University)
Sturdy Swivel: Helps the mobility-impaired enter and exit vehicles while in a seated position. (Team lead: Jessica Hsueh, University of California at Berkeley)
Veevo: A compact, in-home workout station which folds out into five different exercises – then folds back into a usable end table. (Team lead: Sarah Ahart, Virginia Tech)
Yedi70: Social network and informational resource for seniors connected to an online marketplace. (Team lead: Ozge Armutcu, Koc University at Istanbul)

In coming weeks, a full description of all these entries and their designs will be posted here and the Challenge’s Facebook page.

All twelve finalists will win sponsored travel to Stanford University, so one representative from each team can pitch their designs to renowned industry leaders for final judging on April 5. In total, finalists will receive over $50,000 in prizes, mentorship and sponsored travel, with the two grand prize winners receiving and over $10,000 each in cash prizes – seed money to turn their designs into real products.

Much thanks to all our sponsors who helped make this challenge possible:

Platinum Sponsors
Halbert Hargrove, Target and Fidelity Investments

Gold Sponsors
LIXIL and Care Innovations

Silver Sponsors
Home Care Assistance, Airbnb, the Davis Phinney Foundation and Eskaton