CES 2012: Design a Star Trek tricorder and win $10million
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Qualcomm has announced a bizarre competition for designers to develop a handheld device, equipped with sensors, that can enable doctors to noninvasively scan patients – in effect, a Tricorder as used by Dr Leonard 'Bones' McCoy (pictured) on cult sci fi show, Star Trek. First prize is a staggering $10million.
The augmented reality specialist has joined forces with the X-Prize Foundation in a bid to make such a device become reality by launching the Tricorder X-Prize at CES 2012. The winner will be the designer who develops a mobile solution that can diagnose patients better than or equal to a panel of board certified physicians, capturing key health metrics, diagnosing a set of 15 diseases and making '23rd Century science fiction a 21st Century medical reality'.
The full spec is as follows:
As envisioned for this competition, the device will be a tool capable of capturing key health metrics and diagnosing a set of 15 diseases. Metrics for health could include such elements as blood pressure, respiratory rate, and temperature. Ultimately, this tool will collect large volumes of data from ongoing measurement of health states through a combination of wireless sensors, imaging technologies, and portable, non-invasive laboratory replacements.
In a statement, the X-Prize Foundation said: "In virtually every industry, end consumer needs drive advances and improvements. Except in healthcare. Very few methods exist for consumers to receive direct medical care without seeing a healthcare professional at a clinic or hospital, creating an access bottleneck. Despite substantial investment to improve the status quo, even average levels of service, efficiency, affordability, accessibility, and satisfaction remain out of reach for many whom the system was intended to help. A prize is thus sorely needed."
