$10M Prize for Cognitive Engineering & Design
In many ways, the X Prize sits at the top of the heap when it comes to prize-based open innovation. Anyone can enter, they offer large prizes (typically $10M) and are framed to create breakthroughs in important areas. X Prizes have been won for creating super efficient cars and getting people into orbit and back safely. Right now there is a lot of buzz as 29 teams officially compete for Google’s $30M Lunar X prize. The goal is to send a robot to the moon that can travel at least 500 meters on the surface and send data, including images, back to Earth.
X prizes present serious scientific and engineering challenges. Cognitive engineering and design typically do not play a key role. Until now. Qualcomm and the X prize foundation just announce the $10M Tricorder X Prize. The goal and naming of the prize is inspired by the Tricorder, a hand-held device on the series Star Trek that quickly figures out what injury or medical problem you have.
To win the Tricorder X Prize, a team will need to demonstrate a mobile device that can ”diagnose patients better than or equal to a panel of board certified physicians”. It will also advise consumers on the next steps including the need to seek professional help. Meeting this challenge requires not only significant hardware and software engineering but cognitive engineering and design as well.
Success turns on understanding the knowledge and cognition of medical diagnoses and using technology to automate and maintain it.
This is a hard artificial intelligence and expert system problem. Furthermore, doing medical diagnosis on a mobile device in a way that will be accepted by consumers acting on their own presents a serious cognitive design challenge.
The prize is in the design phase. This means it is not yet officially funded. It will be further defined this year and if Qualcomm decides to, it will be funded and launched in 2012. I strongly encourage readers of this blog to contact Qualcomm and the X prize Foundation and encourage them to move forward.
