Recent advancements in autonomous and intelligent machines introduce an unprecedented opportunity to reimagine how people live, work, and play. Mobility—personal or shared, passenger-use or goods-moving—can be designed to prioritize the human experience, enhancing people’s abilities to lead creative, productive, gratifying and sustainable lives.
Don Norman and Colleen Emmenegger of the UC San Diego Design Lab and Kent Larson of the MIT Media Lab jointly bring together leading scientists, engineers, designers and policymakers from across the public and private sectors to address emerging challenges in urban mobility and to explore new directions for potential futures.
Part I | Design + Make (Sept. 15-17)
$10k Competition Main Page: https://www.media.mit.edu/events/city-robotics-hackathon/
Students and member company representatives will participate in an around-the-clock workshop to brainstorm and prototype their proposals, building on the following themes ( $10,000 cash prize + 10 Apple Watch 4):
- Life Mobility: How might we make active mobility--walking, cycling, skateboarding, scooting, etc--a universally awesome experience? How might new forms of active mobility enable new ways of travel in the city, for not just individuals, but also for lovers and families, and people of all abilities, needs, and incomes?
- Socially Intelligent Robots: How might we make machines socially and sensorially empathetic to enhance the wellbeing of people and to enable a more trusting, productive and sustainable relationship? How can the machines better interact with people on the move-- riders, pedestrians, cyclists, etc.?
- The New Street: How might we reimagine streets, public spaces and urban infrastructures to respond to emerging challenges associated with new technology and changing modes of consumption and production? How might we facilitate sustainable community development while prioritizing the human experience?
Part II | Member Workshop (Sept. 17)
Join the UCSD Design Lab, MIT researchers, and chief scientists/designers of member companies for lightning talks, sharing of new technologies and research learnings, identification of sectoral challenges, ideation on potential solutions, and review of outstanding proposals from the designathon.
Thank you for IDEO and Greenfield Labs for their help in coordination for the event.
Seat Limit: Two delegates per member organization
Agenda:
8:30am | Breakfast
9:00am | Lightning Talks: with Don Norman, Kent Larson, Colleen Emmenger, MIT scientists and industry leaders
10:30am | MIT Student pitches, Guests invited to preview projects from designathon and interact with students
12:00pm | Lunch
1:00pm | Ideation Sessions in parallel
~Exploring human-centered design with UCSD
~Exploring the future of the street with Greenfield Labs
3:30pm | Designathon Presentations
4:30pm | Judging
5:15pm | Awards and What’s Next
5:30pm | Reception for Media Lab member company representatives and hackathon participants to continue the exchange of ideas over food and drinks