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Dalhousie students among winners of the Healthy Aging Hackathon

Posted by Pulse - Health Innovation Sandbox on February 4, 2021 in General Announcements

The Healthy Aging Hackathon was a collaborative event between Pulse (Dalhousie’s Health Innovation Sandbox) and ShiftKey Labs (Dalhousie’s Computer Science Sandbox) that took place January 29-31, 2021. In this event, students were given challenges related to healthy aging, including topics of dementia, physical activity in older adults, and social inclusion of older adults. Challenges were developed by experts in the area of frailty, aging, and geriatric medicine. These experts included Dalhousie’s Dr. Olga Theo, Dr. Melissa Andrew, Dr. Susan Kirkland, and Ms. Margaret Szabo. The student groups worked over three days to develop technological solutions to these challenges. The winners of the hackathon included Dalhousie’s own Elizabeth Coish (Recreation Therapy student), and Sungwoo Song (Neuroscience student).

The winners of the hackathon were:

First Place: LevelUp

Created by Abel Akwada, Johan Tunc, Nora Tunc, Sefora Tunc, and Nupur: “Our goal is to help older adults feel connected to their loved ones.” With the PhotoFax, we establish an effortless connection between older adults and their loved ones, significantly improving their relationship. It also positively impacts their general wellbeing, leading to better social behavior and feeling more socially included.  

Second Place: CardioX

Created by Amelia Itzel Hernandez Beltran, Elizabeth Coish, Neelkanth Dabhi, Rishabh Baheti, and Vikram Singh is a platform to play exercise videos from a locked set that are tailored to the functional abilities of the user (e.g., a 5-minute stretching video that uses only the right side for those with hemiparesis, simplified videos that have 1-step command videos). These could be updated by the healthcare team. The next steps would be a mobile platform and expansion to LTC settings.

 

Third Place: LoveBot

Created by Sungwoo Song: With COVID-19, it is hard to see someone you love, and many are exercising alone. So, what if we combine them together? We made the robot that moves with you while you make a video call. It is true that you can simply just video call someone, but when your friends are not present, the robot can be your companion that manages your health.

 

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