To encourage the community to respond to social needs with innovative ideas, the Lingnan University's Jockey Club Gerontechnology and Smart Ageing in Place Project team organised the "Gerontech Incubation Lab cum Design Competition" on 19th October. The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong (HSUHK), as the supporting unit for this event, organized two participating teams to join in it and encouraged them to design innovation products for dementia people and their caregivers to enhance their quality of life.
The team from the HSUHK, consisting of students LIANG Haoen, MA Aozun, GU Xichen and HUANG Yu, performed outstandingly in the competition. They designed a smart watch named "Mind Navigation" and won third place. The goal of this smart watch is to provide better safety assurance for the elderly when they go out. When an elderly person gets lost, their family can quickly learn their real-time location through the watch and go to assist them. The product's design concepts include a GPS positioning, electronic fence system, and emergency feedback function. The student team hopes this product can help patients maintain their freedom and privacy while ensuring their safety when going out. The smart watch not only enhances the travel safety of elderly patients but also increases the peace of mind of their families.
When designing this product, the students mentioned that they mainly come from finance and banking-related majors and do not have knowledge in engineering and technology. However, they actively learned relevant information, including using generative AI tools and online platforms for data collection, which facilitated their thinking and product design. These students expanded their knowledge and skills through various platforms, demonstrating their learning ability and innovative spirit.
Another participating team, WU Jiayi, ZHANG Yuhan, GAO Min, and WANG Rui, designed a product called "Easy Go." The main goal is to provide cognitive training for Hong Kong elderly through mobile application to help those with early and mid-stage dementia reduce forgetfulness in daily travel processes, enhancing their independence and confidence. The specific goal is to provide the users common scenarios in daily travel to help the elderly practice and familiarise themselves with these scenarios. The game format strengthens memory, improves the sense of direction, and enhances planning and response capabilities. Wang Rui stated that they have participated in volunteer activities at HSUHK, which has given them a better understanding of the local elderly. Additionally, she has elderly in her family and hopes to help other old people through this product design. They hope to further refine the prototype design and conduct user experience and testing through various collaborations to understand the product's effectiveness.
HSUHK aims to actively encourage students to respond to social issues with innovative thinking. In this competition, the students demonstrated their innovative capabilities and sense of social responsibility, allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of the silver market products and the needs of people with dementia.
A feature video capturing interviews with the awarded students (Chinese Only)
樂齡科技創新點子實驗場暨出門三寶設計比賽2024 – 學生優異成果分享
