Our latest adventure: Delivering Scaling support to the Longitude Prize on Dementia Finalists
Digital Care is delighted to announce that we will be involved in delivering scaling support to the five Finalists of the Longitude Prize on Dementia, funded by Alzheimer's Society and Innovate UK , and delivered by Challenge Works . Our team, led by Jenny Thomas and in partnership with Challenge Works and PUBLIC , will be delivering a bespoke accelerator to five tech teams as the next stage in the Challenge.
The five Finalists were announced last night, on the BBC's The One Show and will each receive ￡300,000 to develop their technologies in the next 15 months.
Link to the One Show: iplayer video
The finalists are CrossSense by Animorph, Theora 360 by Clairvoyant Networks, AUTONOMOUS by Associa??o Fraunhofer Portugal Research, Supersense Technologies and MemoryAid by Western Sydney University and Deakin University, Australia and there is more on each of the technologies at the end of the article.?
Each of the teams has an innovative tech solution to help those living with dementia and their carers. The scaling support is part of a larger package of both financial and non-financial support, delivered to the Finalists by Challenge Works.
What is the Longitude Prize?
The Longitude Prize has a rich and interesting history and is probably the first challenge prize to exist. The Longitude Act, issued on 8th July 1714 by the British government, offered up a ￡20,000 prize (about ￡1.5m in today’s money) for a practical and useful method to determine longitude, to an accuracy of half a degree. It has since evolved to tackle more of the world’s greatest problems.
History: https://longitudeprize.org/#history
The Longitude Prize is delivered by Challenge Works which run a series of challenge prizes that attract innovators to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. The focus is on improving health, climate adaptation and mitigation, ?and social inclusion. Challenge Works’ objectives are -
●????? Create breakthrough innovations
●????? Help innovators thrive
●????? Unlock systemic change
For more see: Home | Challenge Works
The Longitude Prize on Dementia: helping people living with dementia retain their independence
The Longitude Prize on Dementia is a great initiative to support the development of technology solutions that help people living with dementia retain quality of life and independence. The prize is funded by Alzheimer’s Society and Innovate UK – the UK’s innovation agency.
“The Longitude Prize on Dementia will be awarded to the creator of a breakthrough technology that learns from a person living with dementia, adapting and compensating for their condition as it progresses, and enabling them to continue living independently for longer.
The winning solution will be a digital device or service designed for use by people living with dementia as the primary users. It must be able to demonstrate a transformational improvement in the lives of users, helping them to retain independence in one or more of the areas that contributes to their wellbeing and quality of life, including: essential activities of daily living, communication and social interactions; and other activities that enable them to lead a fulfilling life doing things they enjoy.
Using advances in science and technology, such as AI and applications of big data, the winning innovation will be tailored to individual users and adapt to their changing needs over a sustained period of time. These technologies must be empowering for the user, overcoming existing ethics, design and technology challenges to develop a solution that is easy and enjoyable to use for people living with dementia as they transition through some of the pivotal transition points along the journey through the early to mid-stages of dementia.”
For more on the Prize see this short video -
The Story So Far
In June 2023, a total of ￡1.92m was awarded to 24 semi-finalist teams of developers, researchers and innovators from across the globe to further their work on dementia tech, co-creating their designs with people living with dementia.
Read more on the semi-finalists and their solutions here
Yesterday the five Finalists were announced and will receive an additional ￡1.5 million in funding to support the development and validation of their solutions. Ultimately, a ￡1 million first prize will be awarded in 2026, driving further advancements in dementia care.
Our role: Digital Care working with PUBLIC and Challenge Works
We are looking forward to partnering with the team at PUBLIC - Ryan Shea , Managing Director and Chiara Carlini , Deputy Director of Startup & Challenge Programmes - on this important opportunity.
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Jenny will lead for Digital Care, with her rich experience of running accelerators, such as DigitalHealth.London . Lesley Soden will deliver a number of the commercialisation modules, and I will also be involved, particularly in the design of the scaling support and on the leadership components.
For more see: Digital Care - experienced implementation support
With PUBLIC’s experience of providing support to digital innovators across a range of open innovation programmes and bootcamps, it is an exciting partnership that we are very much looking forward to. More on Public here -
PUBLIC is a digital transformation partner committed to helping the public sector turn innovative ideas into practical solutions. For more see?We help create outstanding digital public services
“I’m thrilled to be supporting the five finalists of Challenge Works’ Longitude Prize on Dementia. It is a condition that sadly affects so many people and will impact so many more of us in the future. Supporting high potential health tech start-ups gives me a lot of joy.? I’m really looking forward to drawing on my experience of running accelerators like Digitalhealth.London and helping the finalists to succeed.”
Jenny Thomas, Director, Digital Care
Ryan said
“As someone who comes from a family impacted by the effects of Alzheimer’s and dementia, I’m honoured that PUBLIC has been asked to work on support this important initiative. The fact is that the current and future dementia patients and their families are increasingly digitally native, so it is encouraging to see Challenge Works supporting the creation of this market. PUBLIC is excited to be working alongside Digital Care and Challenge Works to deliver an exceptional programme.”
Ryan Shea, Managing Director, PUBLIC
Barbara Mendoza, the Programme Manager at Challenge works added
“We’re very excited to begin the Finalist phase of the Longitude Prize on Dementia. Our Finalists come from a variety of professional backgrounds and locations, each offering a unique solution. The next fifteen months will be crucial in providing them the support they need to refine their solutions, always ensuring that co-creation with people living with dementia remains at the heart of the process.”
?Barbara Mendoza, Programme Manager, Challenge Works
Scaling support is just one element of the financial and non-financial support being provided to the five teams over the next two years., with other aspects being delivered by Social Finance
For more see: Social Finance | Together, we make change happen
The Five Finalists
● High-tech glasses that help users recognise objects and people – the technology helps people living with dementia to recognise objects and people and remember what to say or do to improve memory recall. This will help them to carry out daily activities independently, such as making a cup of tea or greeting a loved one. The glasses, which also work with existing prescriptions, aim to delay the progression of memory loss and use synaesthesia - associating senses such as sights and sounds (CrossSense, Animorph, UK).
● Football pitch sensor technology applied to predict and prevent falls – existing ‘fall’ technology can only inform caregivers once an accident has happened, this groundbreaking update will use the technology that maps how a football moves on a pitch (Ultra Wideband) to establish when falls are likely to happen and ultimately prevent them. This tech, in the form of a smartwatch designed for older people, could anticipate slips at certain points in a daily routine (e.g. before bed) or in certain locations (e.g. the bathroom). By detecting and calculating fall risk, the tech could limit risk of hospital admission which can speed dementia symptom progression (Theora 360, Clairvoyant Networks, Inc, USA).
● A smartwatch-based app to provide guidance on daily routines – this AI software processes data from a smartwatch and sensors around the home to learn about its users’ activities and gently guide them on their routines, reminding them of actions they may have forgotten through personalised cues such as illustrations (eg an open fridge or running tap), text, audio and vibrations. If they are not responsive, it will alert a carer. The software will become more intensive as a person’s dementia progresses, helping them to stay in their own home and community for longer (AUTONOMOUS, Associa??o Fraunhofer Portugal Research, Portugal).
● At-home monitoring-box that protects privacy – when a loved one is in the early stages of dementia and is still able to live independently, family members can sometimes worry about their wellbeing. This ‘sensor’ box and automated messaging system scans rooms to help remotely inform family members of the loved one’s wellbeing via WhatsApp or text message (e.g. your mum is up and about and the heating came on at the usual time this morning). This provides reassurance for both family member and user, but unlike existing monitoring technology, doesn’t use cameras or wearables, connecting caregivers without infringing on privacy (Supersense Technologies, UK).
● Home assistance device resembling a traditional telephone – this familiar-looking device offers a screen for video calls which can also display personalised reminders of daily activities. The phone connects users to a reassuring voice-recording of their choice that shares prompts on daily activities and displays images of items in that person’s house. It also makes video-calling loved ones as easy as picking up the phone, to empower people living with dementia to do things they love that bring meaning (MemoryAid, Western Sydney University and Deakin University, Australia).
More like this!
The team at Digital Care has some capacity from this autumn onwards, to partner with others in this way, and to undertake interesting new work.
In particular Pip Hodgson , Jenny Thomas and Lesley Soden have scope to assist with digital health projects currently.
So, if you’d like an exploratory discussion, do just drop me a line on [email protected] , and we can set this up.?
Ana Vasconcelos Ricardo Gra?a Szczepan Orlins Hannah Blows Shelley Symonds Breid O'Brien
Senior Researcher, PhD, Assistant Professor - Digital Health, Clinical and Health Psychologist, Spec, Health Units Management, PGDip
1 个月It will be great to work with you on this project!
Associate Professor at The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University
1 个月lovely to be working with you! Can't wait!