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Next Challenge: Future of Footwear - what’s next?
Can you invent the world's greatest connection product for year 2025?
Challenge Type: humanities & arts
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$1,600
top 50%
96
submissions
DONE
71 months ago

Imagine this scenario…

It’s January 2025. More packages are delivered by drone than by driver. Star Wars: Episode XI, the first major motion picture made entirely in augmented reality, hits AR theaters in July. Autonomous cars account for a quarter of all vehicles on American roads. Your intelligent personal assistant can access and contact your entire social network via a simple voice command.

But beneath this wave of new technology, traditional human interaction and connection is still valued. Birthday celebrations exist mostly as they did a decade ago, with one major difference: greeting cards are now a relic of the past.  There is a new product that EVERYONE uses to make their family and friends feel special, or make them laugh, or tell them how much they are loved.

What is this new product?  With your best friend’s birthday party coming up in a few days, how will you use this awesome new thing to make their day special?  What kind of connection will this new product help you create?  

Deliverables

We are interested in the future of meaningful connections between people.  Considering the scenario above, please answer the following:

  1. First, think back to the things people have done for you to show that they care (cards, gifts, shared experiences, celebrations, etc.).  What stands out as the most meaningful to you?  Why? 
  2. 5-10 years into the future, what is this new product you use to show a friend that you care on his or her birthday?  Please describe how this product works to create a meaningful connection.
  3. What has inspired your idea?  Explain your thought process.  

Bonus:  Include any images, sketches, mock-ups, flow charts, videos, etc. that support your idea. 

Considerations: 

  • Your product idea should make someone feel happy, recognized, celebrated, and/or cared for. 
  • Spend some time thinking about what the future will look like 5-10 years from now.  Some of your ideas might not be possible using the technology available today, but could become so over the next decade. Feel free to think beyond technology and options that exist currently when building your ideas.
  • Please be creative and specific about your idea.  For example, an idea along the lines of "I would send my hologram to tell them happy birthday" may be futuristic, but it is not detailed or creative enough. 


    Submissions will be graded on the following criteria:
  • Meets Deliverables
  • Creativity
  • Quality of Ideas
  • Newness
  • Human Benefit
Reward Tiers
Top 10%
will share $1,000
Next 15%
will share $400
Next 25%
will share $200
Actual individual rewards will be based on the total number of eligible solutions.
Leaderboard
$100.00 Matthew Gaiser Queen's University
$100.00 Chelsea Langwasser The Ohio State University
$100.00 Matt Ohlson University of Virginia
$100.00 George Kiprono Tonuy JKUAT
$100.00 Jon Mills University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
$100.00 Faheem Vellore University of Arkansas - Little Rock
$100.00 Josh Lyman University of Oregon
$100.00 Aleksandra Gerasko tor vergata
$100.00 N N University
$100.00 Nicole Dupuis University of Victoria
$28.60 Akshat Gandhi University of Mumbai
$28.60 M I
$28.60 Brian Wynder Ursinus College
$28.60 Morgan Vondrak California State University
$28.60 Darshan Gabani University of Florida
$28.60 Roberto Gulisano Fermi
$28.60 Argyris Kriezis
$28.60 Rati Rastogi University of Illinois
$28.60 Peipei Wang McMaster University
$28.60 Anh Chu Columbia College
$28.60 Kaleb McArdle Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
$28.60 Giri Sivakoti Northwest Missouri State University
$28.60 Rishav Bose Christ University
$28.60 samarth phartyal National Institute of Technology Surat
$8.30 Daniel Gurung Delhi University
$8.30 Dat Tran The Catholic University of America
$8.30 Flora Lourenco Savannah College of Art and Design
$8.30 Hayden Smith University of Central Florida
$8.30 Darren Chen University of Toronto
$8.30 Esther Weatherall Wilfrid Laurier University
$8.30 Northy Hunter University of Regina
$8.30 Rohit Vaidya Concordia University
$8.30 Zhuohong (Kenny) Xie University of Maryland
$8.30 Samantha Thompson Brock University
$8.30 Anne Reesink
$8.30 Christian Adolphus UNN
$8.30 Mariel Dema
$8.30 Isaac Barnett Ofori University of Mines and Technology, Ghana
$8.30 Youssef Beshay Purdue University
$8.30 Olivia Baer University of Cincinnati
$8.30 Karl R Georgia Institute of Technology
$8.30 Siddhi Kasliwal Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay
$8.30 Ajay Sharma JAMK University of Applied Science,Finland
$8.30 Adithya Prabhu Manipal University
$8.30 Tarun Jha University of Florida
$8.30 Sharicia Mason Jacobs University Bremen
$8.30 Kathleen Muir University of British Columbia
$8.30 Christopher Adjei-Frimpong University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa
Submission questions


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