Build2gether Inclusive Innovation Challenge

with Blues, ETH Zurich, Google, M5Stack, PCBWay and Useful Sensors

Win up to $40,000+ in prizes!

The challenge

Watch our Introduction Video to learn more!

Despite significant advancements in technology, there are still many challenges faced by people with disabilities in their daily lives. ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES have the potential to transform the lives of millions of individuals, providing them with greater independence, access, and opportunities. However, there are still many areas where these technologies fall short or simply do not exist.

This is where our innovation challenge comes in - WE ARE CALLING UPON YOU to identify gaps in current solutions and design cutting-edge technologies that address the unique needs of individuals with disabilities. Together, we can build a more inclusive and equitable future for all.

We wish that you build some innovative solutions to help individuals with disabilities overcome their daily struggles. You can use up any hardware combination you want, you are free to use hardware from our sponsors or your own hardware at home. For more information on build requirements, check out the full rules.

Finish These 3 Steps to Enter the Contest

Click the register button.
JOIN THE DISCORD CHANNEL - the link will appear after you complete the 1-minute questionnaire. Joining the Discord channel is a must in order for you to be eligible to receive free hardware and prizes.
(Optionally) Submit a project idea to win free hardware.

THREE THEMES, EVEN MORE REWARDS

We're looking for innovation across three themes where innovative and inclusive solutions from you are needed:

GAMING for people with mobility impairments.
TRAVELLING for people with mobility impairments.
SWIMMING for people with visual impairments.

All themes in the challenge will run concurrently, allowing participants the flexibility to choose and engage in any or all of them!

You have the opportunity to submit up to three different solutions, one for each theme. By doing so, you increase your chances of winning multiple rewards, as each solution you submit qualifies you for theme-specific prizes. Each submission will be evaluated on a 100-point scale.

We highly encourage you to submit solutions for multiple themes, as it brings forth several benefits. Firstly, it enhances your chances of winning additional rewards specific to each theme. But most importantly, it significantly increases your likelihood of winning the prestigious INCLUSIVE INNOVATION CHALLENGE ULTIMATE AWARD. This prestigious award carries a cash prize of $10,000 and is determined by the total number of points you accumulate from all your submissions. In simpler terms, you can earn up to 100 points per submission, and by submitting solutions for all three themes, you can accumulate a total of 300 points, maximizing your opportunity to win the Ultimate Award.

We're excited to introduce a new addition to Hackster: the Lucky Draw Prizes! If you make two or three submissions, you'll have the chance to be randomly selected as a lucky draw winner. This means that even if you're uncertain about the success of some of your submissions, it's still worth submitting them. You never know, you could be one of the fortunate recipients of the Lucky Draw Prizes. So don't hesitate to submit more multiple solutions!

COLLABORATION WITH THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY IS KEY

What sets this contest apart is the opportunity to directly engage with our CONTEST MASTERS, representatives of the disability community, through our DISCORD channels. You will hear from them firsthand about their problems and needs, and work together to create truly inclusive technologies.

Why is that important? Because in today's business landscape, many companies overlook the valuable contributions of individuals with disabilities when developing assistive technologies, resulting in subpar innovations. This contest seeks to address this issue by actively involving individuals with disabilities in every stage of product design and prototyping. We firmly believe that their insights are crucial for enhancing the outcomes of innovation.

That's where ETH Zürich comes into the picture - our team of researchers is dedicated to investigating how the active participation of individuals with disabilities in the design process can significantly improve innovation outcomes. By participating in this contest, you are not only joining a significant endeavor but also actively contributing to a transformative movement. Our ultimate goal is to revolutionize the landscape of assistive technologies innovation. Your involvement in this contest plays a vital role in driving this change and shaping a future where assistive technologies are truly groundbreaking and inclusive.

So who are they? The Contest Masters are a hand-picked group of advocates with a strong passion for assistive technologies who will advise on project concepts throughout the contest based on life experience with their disabilities.

In each theme, you will directly discuss with them and they will rate your submissions at the end of the contest. Best of all, to ensure that everyone has a chance to connect personally with them, we've set up different Discord channels. So you might end up in a different channel than your friends, but it will give you the unique opportunity to interact deeply with the Contest Masters.

AMAZING HARDWARE GIVEAWAYS

We are giving away 150 hardware + 100 giftcards from our Sponsors — Blues Wireless, Google Coral, PCBWay, M5Stack, and Useful Sensors — to support the success of your project. Here are some details about those hardwares that you can win:

55 Blues Wireless Hardware Kit. The Kit includes: Swan, a low-cost, embeddable STM32L4-based microcontroller designed to accelerate the development and deployment of battery-powered IoT solutions; Global Cellular Notecard, a device-to-cloud data pump that reduces the complexity of building connected solutions with secure, reliable cellular; Wi-Fi Notecard, a device-to-cloud data pump that reduces the complexity of building connected solutions with secure, reliable, low-power wireless technologies, including Wi-FI; and Notecarrier A, a companion development boards designed to make it easy to prototype and deploy IoT solutions with the Notecard.
45 Google Coral Dev Board Mini. It is a single-board computer that provides fast machine learning (ML) inferencing in a small form factor. It's primarily designed as an evaluation device for the Accelerator Module (a surface-mounted module that provides the Edge TPU), but it's also a fully-functional embedded system you can use for various on-device ML projects.
50 PCBWay $50 Giftcards.
50 M5Stack $40 Giftcards.
50 Useful Sensors Person Sensor, which includes a camera module pre-programmed with algorithms that detect nearby faces, and return information over a simple Qwiic I2C interface.

View section

Prizes

Are you ready to win big while making a difference in the world? Our contest is offering amazing rewards. A total of more than 50 rewards, including the Inclusive Innovation Challenge Ultimate Award of $10,000, and lucky draws, as well as 250 hardware will be rewarded throughout the contest.

INCLUSIVE INNOVATION CHALLENGE ULTIMATE AWARD

1 winner

Inclusive Innovation Challenge Ultimate Award. Brought to you by Blues Wireless, PCBWay and ETH Zürich

$10,000 value

$10,000 e-giftcard (Visa or Mastercard)
+ Hackster-ETH Zürich Certificate of Excellence, with Highest Honors and Unanimous First Prize mention
+ Hackster Café interview opportunity

This prize is awarded to the participant with the largest total amount of points. Accumulate as many points as you can by submitting up to three solutions, one for each theme.

Grand Prize Swimming

1 winner

Grand Prize Swimming

$1,000 value

$1,000 e-giftcard (Visa or Mastercard)
+ Hackster-ETH Zürich Certificate of Excellence
+ Hackster Café interview opportunity

Runnerup Prize Swimming

5 winners

Runnerup Prize Swimming

$250 value

$250 e-giftcard (Visa or Mastercard)
+ Hackster-ETH Zürich Certificate of Appreciation and Recognition

Honorable Mention Prize Swimming

10 winners

Honorable Mention Prize Swimming

$100 value

$100 e-giftcard (Visa or Mastercard)
+ Hackster-ETH Zürich Certificate of Participation

Grand Prize Gaming

1 winner

Grand Prize Gaming

$1,000 value

$1,000 e-giftcard (Visa or Mastercard)
+ Hackster-ETH Zürich Certificate of Excellence
+ Hackster Café interview opportunity

Runnerup Prize Gaming

5 winners

Runnerup Prize Gaming

$250 value

$250 e-giftcard (Visa or Mastercard)
+ Hackster-ETH Zürich Certificate of Appreciation and Recognition

Honorable Mention Prize Gaming

10 winners

Honorable Mention Prize Gaming

$100 value

$100 e-giftcard (Visa or Mastercard)
+ Hackster-ETH Zürich Certificate of Participation

Grand Prize Traveling

1 winner

Grand Prize Traveling

$1,000 value

$1,000 e-giftcard (Visa or Mastercard)
+ Hackster-ETH Zürich Certificate of Excellence
+ Hackster Café interview opportunity

Runnerup Prize Travelling

5 winners

Runnerup Prize Travelling

$250 value

$250 e-giftcard (Visa or Mastercard)
+ Hackster-ETH Zürich Certificate of Appreciation and Recognition

Honorable Mention Prize Traveling

10 winners

Honorable Mention Prize Traveling

$100 value

$100 e-giftcard (Visa or Mastercard)
+ Hackster-ETH Zürich Certificate of Participation

Lucky Draw — 3 Submissions

And that's not all - we want to reward participants who submit innovative solutions in more than one theme, whether or not their solutions were among the winners.

2 winners

Lucky Draw — 3 Submissions

$500 value

$500 e-giftcard (Visa or Mastercard)
Two winners, randomly selected from those who submitted three different solutions (e.g. one submission for each of the 3 themes)

Lucky Draw — 2 Submissions

5 winners

Lucky Draw — 2 Submissions

$100 value

$100 e-giftcard (Visa or Mastercard)
Five winners, randomly selected among those who submitted two different solutions (e.g. one submission for 2 of the 3 themes)

Hardware Application: Blues Wireless Hardware Kit

55 winners

Hardware Application: Blues Wireless Hardware Kit

$160 value

Delivery fees (~$30) are included, and winners will not be charged for delivery.

Hardware Application: Google Coral Dev Board Mini

45 winners

Hardware Application: Google Coral Dev Board Mini

$120 value

Delivery fees (~$20) are included, and winners will not be charged for delivery.

Hardware Application: PCBWay Gift Cards

50 winners

Hardware Application: PCBWay Gift Cards

$50 value

Hardware Application: M5Stack Gift Cards

50 winners

Hardware Application: M5Stack Gift Cards

$40 value

Hardware Application: Useful Sensors Person Sensor

50 winners

Hardware Application: Useful Sensors Person Sensor

$20 value

Delivery fees (~$10) are included, and winners will not be charged for delivery.

View section

Judges

The Judges will be composed of our Contest Masters, our Organizer and our Collaborators. The Contest Masters will judge your solutions at the end, this is why it is crucial to discuss with them on Discord to understand what is needed.

CONTEST MASTERS

The Contest Masters are a curated list of individuals with disabilities who are passionate about assistive technologies and inclusivity. We have representatives from the US, Europe and Asia, making the challenge a truly global one. Several Contest Masters represent each theme.

GAMING WITH MOBILITY IMPAIRMENTS

Vivek Gohil, living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, is an accessibility consultant and journalist, and advocates for gamers with motor disabilities. Using his personal experience, he elevates their stories through articles, conferences, and collaborations with Xbox, PlayStation, and various game developers. He enjoys superheroes, gaming, sci-fi, and anime.

Grant Stoner, living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, is a gaming journalist, and focuses on accessible innovations and the disabled perspective within the gaming industry. He investigates how developers make games more inclusive and reports on the disabled community's gaming experiences. Passionate about avoiding inspirational cliches and promoting disabled voices, he enjoys Pokémon and museum visits in his free time.

Paul Amadeus Lane, living with Quadriplegia, is an accessibility consultant, brand ambassador, and broadcast journalist, and leverages his 30+ years' experience as a quadriplegic and power wheelchair user to advise companies like Sony PlayStation and Google. His unique perspective on assistive and adaptive technology has contributed to award-winning gaming accessibility projects and the groundbreaking Leonardo project.

TRAVELLING WITH MOBILITY IMPAIRMENTS

Paul Fjare, living with Becker Muscular Dystrophy, is a mechanical design engineer, and graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Despite needing assistance with various daily tasks due to his condition, Paul remains active in his work as a part-time engineering consultant, showcasing a passion for well-designed things. He enjoys music, comedy, and sports.

Drew McPherson, living with paralysis, is a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley, is also the co-founder and board chair of AbilityHacks, a non-profit addressing disability-related challenges. Paralyzed from the shoulders down, Drew uses his personal experience to fuel his passion for creating assistive technologies. He has taught upper extremity prosthetics and orthotics and served as a Design Fellow at the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation.

SWIMMING WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS

Marc Chiang, living with Retinitis Pigmentosa, is an accessibility sportsman, and maintains an active lifestyle through sports such as blind tennis and running. Relying heavily on accessibility technologies like screen-readers and AI imaging technology, he manages his daily tasks independently. Despite his visual impairments, Marc is a committed volunteer in inclusive sports organisations and upholds a minimalist lifestyle for easier navigation and memory management.

Sophie Soon, living with Cone Rod Dystrophy, is a Team Singapore Paralympian, and has made her mark in Para-Swimming, notably winning a silver medal at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships and setting an Asian Record in Women's SB12 100m Breaststroke. She strives to foster an inclusive society where everyone contributes to the community.

ORGANIZER AND COLLABORATORS

Cyrille Grumbach (Hackster: TheDoctoralPirate), the organizer of the Build2gether Innovation Challenge, emphasizes the importance of increased innovation in the field of assistive technologies. As a Ph.D. candidate in Strategic Management and Innovation at ETH Zürich, Cyrille's research revolves around developing novel strategies to enhance innovation outcomes for individuals with disabilities. He firmly believes that the contest will serve as a catalyst for transforming innovation approaches in assistive technologies. Cyrille envisions a future where individuals with disabilities are consistently included throughout the entire product design and development process, thus revolutionizing the way these technologies are created.

Roland Tan is the founder of ART Aquatics, a world-class swimming club, and serves as a coach in Singapore, supporting swimmers from both the able-bodied and para categories. Through his training and guidance, Roland Tan has elevated para swimmers, including our Contest Master Sophie Soon, to compete at the international level, participating in prestigious events like the World Championships and Paralympics.

Caleb Kraft is the senior editor of the magazine Make:. Make: is a magazine and online platform that focuses on do-it-yourself (DIY) projects, creativity, and innovation. It covers a wide range of topics such as electronics, robotics, woodworking, 3D printing, and more. Make: aims to foster a community of individuals who enjoy exploring technology, experimenting with new ideas, and turning their imagination into tangible projects. Additionally, Caleb runs TheControllerProject.com where volunteers around the world 3D Print parts to help gamers who have disabilities, for free.

Chatchai Aphibanpoonpon is the founder of Klong Dinsor, a non-profit organization improving the lives of thousands of people with disabilities. His initiatives include the Lensen drawing kit for blind children, the Pannana app providing audio descriptions for the visually impaired, and organizing the Run2gether fun run. He envisions an inclusive society and plans to launch a modeling agency and headhunting service for increased employment opportunities.

Dominik Demetz is an engineer specialized in assistive technologies, and has previously collaborated with ETH Cybathlon, a platform to advance research in the field of assistive technology. His academic background includes a degree in Strategy & Innovation from ETH Zürich, where he concentrated his studies on the assistive technologies space. Dominik is passionately driven by the collaborative process that intertwines engineers and individuals with disabilities during product development. This intersection of expertise and lived experiences fuels his enthusiasm for exploring innovative solutions that cater to the unique needs and perspectives of this community.

View section