2011 OpenWorld Design Contest Promoting Human Assistance Technologies

$20000 in prizes for Applications on EvoPrimer that assist the handicapped.

STM32 OpenWorld Design Contest Final Entry Phase ends 31 December. Enter your ideas today for the opportunity to win $20 000 in cash prizes. Persons who have not entered the contest during the concept proposal phase, may participate with a final entry.

The OpenWorld Application Design Contest is a technology promotion engaged by the Autonomie project – a collaborative industry-research consortium lead by STMicroelectronics for the development of technologies that facilitate daily life for handicapped persons. More about Autonomie and human assistance applications.

Enter and win!

Participants in the OpenWorld Application Design Contest, submit entries on the theme of Technology for Human Assistance:

• Phase 1: Best application concepts win EvoPrimer tools
• Phase 2: Best contest entries win from $20000 in cash awards

For entry information information refer to the contest rules

Technology Helping People

Human Assistance Applications are implementations of technology that help those with handicaps or limiting medical conditions participate more actively in daily life by facilitating access to transportations, public places, and public services. The OpenWorld Application Design Contest is your opportunity to promote technology that helps others.

• Review the contest rules 
• Explore the tools EvoPrimer, CircleOS, Ride7 and GCC compiler
• Submit your idea and join us in building an open world for all! 

Autonomie: Integrated Electronic Solutions for Human Assistance

autonomy \o?-'tä-n?-me\ - self-directing freedom and moral independence

To obtain information, assess and determine courses of actions, to decide and to act. Autonomy is a fundamental characteristic of moral, independent, adult human beings. But many do not benefit from full autonomy in their everyday lives because one or more handicaps limit the information that they can obtain, or the possibility to act on that information. A person with failing eye sight cannot easily identify or read posted public information. The hearing impaired may not detect audible cues about their environment that would help them avoid hazards. Persons with mobility limitations may not be able to identify access ways that are adapted to them.

The Autonomie project was conceived to find ways in which integrated electronic solutions can facilitate the sight impaired person's access to public places, transit and services. Founded by an engineer who experienced himself the partial loss of his eyesight, the Autonomie project has developed into a consortium of industry and research partners dedicated to creating and providing affordable technologies that facilitate the autonomy of persons suffering handicaps.

Technologies Facilitating Autonomy

Consortium members working in collaboration with handicapped persons, have defined new technologies to facilitate autonomy, notably in the areas of:

• Precision locating using indoor/outdoor mapping and points of interest 
• Navigation with and without a GPS signals facilitated by MEMS sensors, RF technologies and Real Time Localization System
• Environment information and alerts with augmented reality (audio, image, video, ...)

To support human assistance application requirements, the consortium promotes solutions for portable platforms such as the EvoPrimer, which serve as an open and evolutive demonstrator and application development tool. On the platform, developers can try ideas and demonstrate their applications taking advantage of:

• Portability (battery powered)
• Audio input/output, large color LCD touchscreen, memory extension
• GPS reference application
• Complete sofware development tool set

For more information about Autonomie and related technology, go to http://autonomie.minalogic.net

How You Can Help Build an Open World

Demonstrating your creative ideas and applications is the next best step to a world that is open to everyone.

For this reason, the OpenWorld Application Design Contest is looking for your ideas and applications that support persons with disabilities such as:

• Sight impairments
• Limited mobility
• Hearing impairments
• Limiting medical conditions

Many types of applications are possible, such as:

• Creating precise indoor/outdoor maps including points of interest
• Recording and sharing points of interest (hazards, limitations, access points)
• Navigation complemented by augmented reality
• Monitoring and alerts about user medical conditions, situations or hazards
• ...

Your application can win from up to $20,000 in prizes and can help promote technology that will bring new opportunities to people with disabilities.

If you aren't certain that your ideas are suited to the competition, read more at http://autonomie.minalogic.net, or post you questions here in the "Autonomie"  forum. We're happy to help.

Complete rules about the OpenWorld Application Design Contest is provided here.

Partners for autonomy...