24 Discovery Award winners
An app that repairs ‘broken’ speech, high-tech glasses that can help those with dementia recognise others, and a ‘Yellow Brick Road’ map to help people navigate their community.
These are just three of the solutions that have made it to the semi-finals of the £4 million Longitude Prize on Dementia.
A total of £1.9 million has today been awarded to 24 pioneering teams of developers, researchers and innovators from across the globe.
International challenge competition
This is part of the international challenge competition funded by the Alzheimer’s Society and Innovate UK, designed and delivered by Challenge Works.
Discovery Awards of £80,000 have been awarded to teams in:
- the UK
- the US
- Canada
- Australia
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)
- Colombia
- Portugal
- the Isle of Man
These will be used to develop new technologies to improve the lives of people living with dementia.
The teams will now work alongside people living with dementia and their carers to ensure technologies are intuitive, easy-to-use and able to adapt to their changing needs.
Innovations
Some of the innovations include:
An augmented reality map to prevent people getting lost or confused
The Dorothy Community from Care City (UK) is a digital ‘Yellow Brick Road’ map.
The map uses augmented reality to provide virtual directions, visualised pathways and simple instructions for people living with dementia to independently navigate their local community.
High-tech specs for facial recognition
iMAGIC smart glasses are being developed by Khalifa University (UAE).
The glasses help people recognise familiar faces, provide reminders and alerts, zoom in and out to facilitate navigation, make phone calls to loved ones and monitor vital signs.
The glasses will also eventually be able to help identify objects that sport a QR code (a type of barcode that can be scanned and interpreted by computer software).
A virtual speech assistant app to fill in missing words
The interactive artificial intelligence (AI) software from Amicus Brain Innovations (US) will use speech and language processing to listen to ‘broken speech’, a common challenge as dementia advances.
The assistant will speak aloud the AI’s ‘repaired’ rendition of what the user intended to say.
Co-creation and lived experience
The Longitude Prize on Dementia is driving the development of personalised, technology-based tools that are co-created with people living with the early stages of dementia.
The prize will help them to live independent, more fulfilled lives and enable them to do the things they enjoy.
The competition itself has also been co-designed with people living with dementia.
Judges were advised in their decision making by the prize’s Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP).
The group, which includes people living with dementia, carers and former carers, has steered the design of the prize, as well as the judging and assessment processes.
£1 million first prize
In 2024, five finalists will progress with additional £1.5 million in funding to build real-world prototypes.
In total, more than £3 million will be awarded in seed funding and development grants with a £1 million first prize to be awarded in 2026.
In addition, wider expert non-financial support has been funded to provide innovators with crucial insight and expertise in the next three years.
Knowledge sharing
This includes access to data, specialist facilities, collaborations with people living with dementia and expert advice on technical and business aspects of the innovation to facilitate knowledge sharing between participants.
One of the Discovery Awards awarded, the ‘Paul and Nick Harvey Discovery Award’, is sponsored by the Hunter Foundation, with further support coming from Heather Corrie and the Caretech Foundation.
Find out more about the Longitude Prize on Dementia and the 24 Discovery Award winners progressing to the semi-finals of the prize.
Developing cutting-edge tools
Kate Lee, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Alzheimer’s Society, said:
It’s vital people with dementia are able to live independently, doing things that bring them fulfilment, for as long as possible.
And that’s exactly what tech innovation can provide.
Today’s Discovery Award winners all have the capacity to develop cutting-edge tools that bring hope to the here and now, making a tangible difference to people’s lives.
New drugs have been discovered which slow the progression of early Alzheimer’s disease, but there’s still more to do.
Alzheimer’s Society remains committed to innovative projects like the Longitude Prize so that together we can improve the lives of people living with dementia and their families.
Tackling a global health crisis
Indro Mukerjee, CEO, Innovate UK said:
By addressing dementia the Longitude Prize tackles a global health crisis.
Worldwide, around 50 million people have dementia and there are nearly 10 million new cases every year.
Innovate UK is pleased to support this initiative along with the other vital work we are doing in this area.
The UK is a global leader in innovation for healthy ageing and this prize will incentivise new technologies.
This will help people with dementia, their families and their carers, to make living with the condition easier.
Transformative technologies
Trevor Salomon, whose wife Yvonne was diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2013, is chair of the Longitude Prize on Dementia’s LEAP.
Trevor said:
Before her diagnosis, my wife astonished everyone with her ability to do anything she set her mind to.
She was an amazing cook, gardener, and there was nothing she couldn’t make or repair on her sewing machine.
If we could access technologies that help extend her independence and her enjoyment of those pastimes, it would be so worthwhile.
So I’m really impressed by the innovative thinking and creativity of the Discovery Award winners.
Advances in AI could lead to new technologies that would be transformative for people like my wife – but they need to be easy to use, intuitive and adapt to the unique needs of each person.
Technologies shouldn’t be developed in a bubble; they need to be designed and tested by the people who will ultimately benefit from them.
Further information
The Longitude Prize on Dementia is a £4.34 million prize to drive the creation of personalised, technology-based tools that are co-created with people living with the early stages of dementia.
The tools help them live independent, more fulfilled lives and enable them to do the things they enjoy.
Dementia is a progressive condition and there is no cure, but people can live well for years.
As hospitalisations can increase the rate of decline, the hope is that assistive technology can help people stay safe and independent in their home for longer.
The winning solution will use the latest advances in technology, AI and machine learning in combination with user data and testing to provide personalised support for people living with dementia.
The Longitude Prize on Dementia is funded by the UK’s Alzheimer’s Society and Innovate UK and delivered by Challenge Works.
Alzheimer’s Society is the UK’s leading dementia charity. It is a vital source of support and a powerful force for change for everyone affected by dementia.
Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency. Innovate UK helps UK businesses to grow through the development and commercialisation of new products, processes and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive and easy to navigate.
One of the Discovery Awards awarded, the ‘Paul and Nick Harvey Discovery Award’ is sponsored by the Hunter Foundation, with further support coming from Heather Corrie and the Caretech Foundation.
The prize has also received funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC). MRC funds research at the forefront of science to prevent illness, develop therapies and improve human health.
Challenge Works is a global authority on the design and delivery of challenge prizes to unlock technological solutions focused on social good.
Top image: Ronald (93) helps Care City test a prototype of the Dorothy App. Credit: Longitude Prize on Dementia