Grand prize
The winner was awarded a Grand Prize ($1,000 value)
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Edge Impulse
The winner was awarded an Edge Impulse Prize ($300 value)
Judges' Favorites
Each winner was awarded a Judges' Favorites ($200 value)
Audience Favorite
The winner was awarded an Audience Favorite ($300 value)
Participation Prizes
Each winner was awarded a Participation Prizes ($30 value)
The challenge
Let’s create new senses for ourselves! Leverage Neosensory’s Buzz haptic wristband and Edge Impulse’s machine learning platform to create powerful new sensory perceptions.
Build applications on any BLE-enabled platform, whether it’s a mobile phone or an Arduino to stream and encode sensory information on Buzz. Whether you want to feel sensor data about the health of your beehives, sense the temperature of surrounding objects, or feel satellites flying overhead, the sky’s not even the limit!
Add Edge Impulse’s platform into the mix to create even more powerful experiences that leverage machine learning—opening the ability to win the Edge Impulse prize and giving yourself an “edge” for the grand prize.
The tech you will useThe Neosensory Buzz Haptic Wristband
Built upon the neuroscientific principles of sensory substitution and augmentation, Buzz is a wristband designed for creating new senses by encoding data streams through 4 vibration actuators in low-latency real-time.
Out of the box, Buzz runs an algorithm for converting sound from the environment to a vibrational representation around the wrist using a built-in microphone—an application primarily useful for those who are deaf, those who want to maintain acoustic environmental awareness while wearing hearing protection or headphones, and beyond.
More importantly, Buzz makes it easy for developers who want to build their own sensory augmentation applications through the wristband. By leveraging a simple API and SDKs, developers can effortlessly control the 4 vibrational units on Buzz in real-time via any connected device with Bluetooth Low Energy—whether it's a mobile phone or Arduino.
This opens up a limitless set of amazing possibilities for expanding sensory perception.
You could classify the emotion of incoming speech sound and convey it as a haptic aid for people with autism, classify animal calls and let users feel their sounds when walking through different environments, build an app that creates a companion tactile experience when a parent is reading a story to a child, recognize yoga poses and help yogis improve their posture, and beyond.
While the possibilities may seem overwhelming, here are some great areas to focus on:
- Biofeedback: can you measure physiological signals and provide feedback through Buzz to improve the human experience?
- Body-incorporation of other systems: can you map signals measured from complex systems (e.g. a drone or a factory) so that they become an extension of you?
- Accessibility: can you create impactful applications that improve the quality of life for people with deficits, disorders, or disabilities?
Of course, if you have a killer idea that falls outside any of these areas, that’s fantastic, too!
How it works
- Come up with a brilliant idea for the contest (no pressure!)
- Register for the contest. Upon registering, you'll receive a fantastic discount code for purchasing Neosensory Buzz
- Apply for hardware or buy your Buzz
- Build your idea and share it with the world to secure the popular vote.
- Participate in the office hours and webinars that we will run throughout the contest to help you create amazing entries (be sure to sign up on the mailing list)
- Submit your entry by January 22 2021 by 11:59 pm PST
- The top entries will be invited to pitch their projects to our talented panel of celebrity judges
- Winners will be announced on January 30, 2021 by 4:00pm PST
Also note: Neosensory officially ships to US, Canada, UK, and Australia. Check the FAQ's if you reside outside of these areas.
As part of our prize package, Neosensory is offering its "Built for Buzz" mentorship program to help winning contestants take their projects to market.
Prizes
We have a delectable range of prizes available--from stylish t-shirts, signed copies of David Eagleman's new book, Livewired, and all the way up to our $1,000 USD grand prize (payable in Bitcoin if you'd like!).
Grand prize
The grand prize is for the contestant who takes their project the farthest according to our judging criteria. Build an outstanding, impactful, and well-executed sensory augmentation application that dazzles for a shot at this prize.
$1,000 USD (Choice of Bitcoin, PayPal, or Giftcard), various company swag, and eligibility for Neosensory's "Built for Buzz" mentoring program (see contest overview for more details)
Edge Impulse
This prize will be awarded to the entry that make the most ingenious use of the Edge Impulse platform. How best can you leverage the Edge Impulse developer platform for the most impact?
$300 USD (Choice of Bitcoin, PayPal, or Giftcard), Edge Impulse swag, and eligibility for Neosensory's "Built for Buzz" mentoring program (see contest overview for more details)
Judges' Favorites
Two prizes will be awarded for submissions that meet all the judging criteria and really "wow" our judges.
$200 USD (Choice of Bitcoin, PayPal, or Giftcard), and eligibility for Neosensory's "Built for Buzz" mentoring program (see contest overview for more details)
Audience Favorite
Share your entry with the world! Tweet, post to the 'gram, or shout about it from the rooftops. The project with the most likes will win!
$300 USD (Choice of Bitcoin, PayPal, or Giftcard)
Participation Prizes
All Qualified projects submitted before the cut off date are eligible for participation prizes from our swag grab bag. Up for grabs are Edge Impulse and Neosensory stickers, t-shirts, or signed copies of Neosensory co-founder Dr. David Eagleman’s book Livewired.
Swag!
Judges
David Eagleman, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Neosensory
Dr. Eagleman is the CEO and co-founder of Neosensory and a neuroscience professor at Stanford University. His research is published in the top journals in the field, including Science and Nature. Beyond his research and entrepreneurial endeavors, he is an internationally bestselling author about the brain, with his books translated into 33 languages. He is also the creator and host of PBS’s Emmy-nominated series “The Brain with David Eagleman.”
Donna Auguste, CEO and founder of Auguste Research Group
Donna Auguste is an engineer, data scientist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who is the founder and CEO of Auguste Research Group. Auguste Research Group performs research involving sensors and actionable data, and advocates for diversity in STEM education. Donna and her team have taught many hands-on STEM workshops for children, with a focus on including children from communities underrepresented in STEM such as those who are Black, Latinx, Indigenous, neuro-diverse and/or Deaf. Donna founded the Leave a Little Room Foundation, a non-profit organization that helped to provide housing, schools, electricity, and medical care in impoverished communities around the world for more than ten years. Previously, Donna was the co-founder of Freshwater Software, and a senior engineering manager at Apple Computer where she led the software engineering team that developed the Newton personal digital assistant.
Luke Robert Mason, media producer and host of FUTURES podcast
Luke Robert Mason is a media producer and host of the FUTURES Podcast, where he meets the pioneers working to imagine the sorts of developments that might dramatically alter what it means to be human. He has contributed to BBC One, BBC Radio, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, VICE Motherboard, and Wired Magazine. Throughout his career, he has interviewed hundreds of the most well-known innovators in the fields of advanced science and emerging technology, providing him with a unique perspective on how the future might unfold.
Zach Shelby, CEO and co-founder of Edge Impulse
Zach is the CEO and co-founder of Edge Impulse. He’s a serial entrepreneur, investor, and technologist in the embedded space with a passion for TinyML. Zach was the Vice President of Developers at ARM and is the founder and ex-CEO of the Micro:bit Foundation and Sensinode.
Resources
Applications and/or hardware devices.
The only requirement is that Neosensory’s Buzz hardware is used. Projects leveraging Edge Impulse will gain 30 bonus points towards winning the grand prize and will qualify for the Edge Impulse prize. You can view the judging criteria and full rules here.
Neosensory
Neosensory develops wearable devices and techniques for expanding perception. To further understand the spirit of what we’re going on about, check out neuroscientist and Neosensory Co-Founder and CEO Dr. David Eagleman’s TED Talk “Can we create new senses for humans?”
Read David’s Neosensory blog post about what developers should consider when designing new sensory experiences.
Apply for hardware or buy your Buzz wristband here (remember to register for the competition to receive your discount code)
Learn more about our cross-platform API and SDKs with our getting started guide
Follow along with tutorials exploring extra senses using Buzz.
Chat with fellow developers: join the Neosensory developer slack.
Edge Impulse
Edge Impulse are on a mission to enable developers to create the next generation of intelligent devices. Edge Impulse was designed for software developers, engineers and domain experts to solve real problems using machine learning on edge devices without a PhD in machine learning. Their intuitive and flexible cloud based UI enables even beginners to leverage the power of machine learning in minutes.
Get Started with the Edge Impulse developer platform sign up for a free account.
Dive into the documentation on Edge Impulse.
Check out the Edge Impulse example projects and be inspired.
Discuss with fellow developers on the Edge Impulse forum.
Learn more about Edge Impulse.
Both companies believe in building applications for good. Security and privacy are important to consider in your entries.
Ask a question on the contest discussion board,
About us
Neosensory creates wearable technologies for empowering people with new senses—built on the neuroscience of sensory substitution and addition. Our research began with the idea that our experience of reality can go beyond our sensory limitations. In 2013, Scott Novich, then a PhD student, and Professor David Eagleman set out to create a general sensory substitution device: the VEST. The project garnered massive attention and in 2015, with the support of True Ventures, it was spun out of the lab into an independent company.
We focus on sending data streams to the brain via the sense of touch. With so much unused real estate on the body, the skin presents huge potential for the delivery of new information. We have built the world’s first technology that enables people to listen with their skin.
Our team is inspired by the transformative technology we are building. We are dedicated to making a meaningful social impact with our sound-to-touch products.
Edge Impulse is the leading development platform for machine learning on edge devices, free for developers and trusted by enterprises.
Edge Impulse was designed for software developers, engineers and domain experts to solve real problems using machine learning on edge devices without a PhD in machine learning.
Founded in 2019 by Zach Shelby and Jan Jongboom, we are on a mission to enable developers to create the next generation of intelligent devices. We believe that machine learning can enable positive change in society, and we are dedicated to support applications for good.
Contest Status
Timeline
Contest begins
November 5, 2020 at 10:00 AM PST
Applications for hardware close
November 20, 2020 at 11:59 PM PST
Hardware recipients announced
November 25, 2020 at 11:59 PM PST
Submissions close
January 22, 2021 at 11:59 PM PST
Winners announced by
Feb 5, 2021