The Longitude Prize on Dementia has received 175 entries from innovators across the globe. It will reward AI and machine-learning based technologies that provide personalised solutions to help people with dementia to live longer, higher quality lives at home.
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Launched in September 2022, the £4 million prize is funded by Alzheimer’s Society, Innovate UK and delivered by global innovation prize experts Challenge Works.
The prize received entries from innovators on every continent. Of the applications entered, greatest representation came from innovators in the UK, with 89 entries received, followed by 27 from innovators based in the US and eight in Canada.
Nearly two-thirds of entries (64%) came from innovators in Europe with 112 entries – including the UK – with entries from Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Greece, Switzerland, Ireland, Denmark, and Isle of Man.
In Africa, 11 entries were received from teams from South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. In Asia, nine entries were received from teams in India, Israel, Singapore, Hong Kong, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. In South America, teams entered from Colombia and Brazil. Four teams from Australia have submitted their innovations to the prize. In addition to entries from the USA and Canada in North America, one entry was received from Mexico.
Competing entries in the running for the prize include:
- Wearables – smart glasses to aid memory recollection through story-telling AI and facial recognition; smart gloves to learn from the environment a person is in and help prompt routines, and activity trackers linked to smartphones to support management of daily activities.
- Cognitive interventions – software to train cognitive skills and prevent further memory problems; virtual reality games featuring reminiscing opportunities to help provide useful cues and prompts for people living with dementia, and games to help people with dementia maintain and reduce the speed of decline of life skills and brain functions thought to be lost.
- Technology for the home and physical aides – In-home avatars and AI chat companions; personalised indoor lighting informed by daily activity to help alleviate depression, poor sleep and improve wellbeing, and navigation and walking aids to ensure people are able to safely traverse their environments.
Over half of the applications (57%) were led by businesses, with a further 18% of applications from academic team leads at universities and research institutes.
Teams that entered the prize have highlighted co-design with people living with dementia as a key area in which they would like support. A defining feature of the Longitude Prize of Dementia is its Lived Experience Advisory Panel – a consultative group of people who have dementia themselves or care for people living with dementia. They will provide innovators with insights and advice to ensure the technologies developed through the prize are designed for the diverse and changing needs of people living with dementia.
Dame Wendy Hall, member of the Longitude Prize Committee and professor of computer science at University of Southampton said: “It is extremely gratifying to know that the Longitude Prize on Dementia has resonated with innovators from around the world. Around 50 million people worldwide are living with dementia and that number is predicted to increase to 153 million by 2050. The judges will now select 23 of the most promising entries to receive £80,000 Discovery Awards to develop solutions that learn from a person’s data – about what they do, who they know and what’s most important to them as an individual – to provide personalised technologies that make it easier to live independently for longer with this devastating condition.”
Following the entry window coming to a close at the end of January, the 175 entries will be assessed by the prize judges, with advice from members of the lived experience panel. Later this year, 23 teams will be awarded £80,000 Discovery Awards to develop their solutions. From these, five will go on to win £300,000 grants in 2024 to turn ideas into real-world products. Finally, one winner will be awarded the £1 million top prize in 2026.
Wider support valued at more than £1 million has been funded to provide innovators with crucial insight and expertise, such as access to data, specialist facilities, collaborations with people living with dementia and expert advice on technical and business aspects of the innovation and to facilitate knowledge sharing between participants.
In addition to the funding provided by the Alzheimer’s Society and Innovate UK, the prize has received donations from three UK donors: The Hunter Foundation, CareTech Foundation and Heather Corrie. In the USA it is supported by AARP and in Canada by AGE-WELL and CABHI.
