AI innovations to transform living with dementia awarded $2.4m by Longitude Prize on Dementia

LONDON and WASHINGTON, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — An app that repairs “broken” speech, a “Yellow Brick Road” map to help people navigate their community, and a personalized music system for anxiety are just three of the solutions that have made it to the semi-finals of the $5m Longitude Prize on Dementia.

A total of $2.4m has today been awarded to 24 pioneering teams of innovators from across the globe in the international challenge competition funded by Alzheimer’s Society and Innovate UK, and designed and delivered by Challenge Works. The prize is supported by AARP in the US and AGE-WELL and CABHI in Canada.

Discovery Awards of $99k have been awarded to teams around the world. The innovators will now work alongside people living with dementia and their carers to ensure technologies are intuitive, easy-to-use and able to adapt to their changing needs.

Innovations include:

• A virtual speech assistant app to fill in missing words – the AI software from Amicus Brain Innovations (USA) will use  language processing to “speak” the AI’s “repaired” rendition of what the user intended to say.
• A system that offers personalized music sessions to ease anxiety – LUC101 from LUCID Inc (Canada).
• An augmented reality map to prevent people getting lost or confused – The Dorothy Community from Care City (UK) is a digital “Yellow Brick Road” map that provides visualized pathways to help people navigate their local community.

Sarah Lenz Lock, AARP senior vice president of policy said: “People living with dementia deserve the chance to choose how to live as they age. The innovations announced today mark a significant step in enabling independence through technology.”

Kate Lee, CEO, Alzheimer’s Society, said: “It’s vital people with dementia are able to live independently, doing things that bring them fulfillment, for as long as possible. And that’s exactly what tech innovation can provide.”

The Longitude Prize on Dementia is driving the development of personalized technologies co-created with people living with dementia, helping them live independent, more fulfilled lives. The prize has been co-designed with people living with dementia.

In 2024, five finalists will progress with additional $1.9m in funding to build prototypes. In total, more than $3.75m will be awarded in seed funding and development grants with a $1.25 million first prize awarded in 2026.

SOURCE Longitude Prize on Dementia