Living better for longer with Polly

 

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A group of four Notting Hill & Ealing High School girls from Year 10 and 12 have reached the finals of the national Longitude Explorer competition, run by Nesta.

Competitors choose one of four categories, and design a product to benefit the world around that category, using technology or an app which incorporates artificial intelligence.

The girls chose the ‘living longer’ category, and created an AI watch named Polly, a simple interactive digital assistant which supports older people and those living with dementia.

Here’s how the team describe Poly:

 “Polly is an interactive digital assistant for the older generation. Our app aims to help older people who may live alone or be less mobile to remain active and independent, without over-complicating it with hundreds of confusing features. Polly will also use motion sensing and other medical monitoring systems to track changes in health and mobility over time, which could then help to detect diseases like dementia, which can affect movement, in the early stages. Polly can provide helpful reminders about exercise, eating and drinking.

 As well as being a medical monitoring device, Polly will also help the elderly stay socially connected by giving reminders to call family members. As we have learned from the lockdown, communication is very important for mental health.

As many people develop hearing and sight loss over time, Polly can be adapted to use either sound or sight, with both voice commands and a touch screen interface.”

The girls have reached the final round and now it is all down to a public vote. Please show your support by voting for Polly on this link: https://longitudeexplorer.challenges.org/vote/

The closing date is Friday 3rd July, so don’t delay!