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SPHERE project World Technology Award finalist

A woman with wearable technology on her arm SPHERE-IRC

Press release issued: 7 December 2016

A University of Bristol research project has been named a World Technology Award finalist by the World Technology Network (“The WTN”) – a global community comprised of the most innovative people and organisations at the forefront of science, technology and related fields.

The Bristol-led EPSRC-funded SPHERE project (Sensor Platform for HEalthcare in a Residential Environment) has been selected as a finalist in the Health and Medicine category.  Winners will be announced at the WTN’s annual World Technology Awards tomorrow [8 December] in Los Angeles, USA.

SPHERE, led by Professor Ian Craddock, who is Head of the Digital Health Engineering Research Group, is using a unique platform of sensors to quantify health-related behaviours over long periods to diagnose and help manage health and wellbeing conditions.  The technology will aid early diagnosis, lifestyle change and the ability of patients to live at home while maintaining their privacy and independence.

The World Technology Awards are presented each year to individuals and organisations -outstanding innovators from each sector within the technology arena, conducting innovative and impactful work with the greatest likely long-term significance in the fields of science, technology and other related disciplines.

Nominations are judged on the degree of which the work is innovative and impactful, with the greatest likely long-term significance in the fields of science, technology and other related disciplines.  The WTN fellows judge and vote on all finalists in each of the categories associated with their field of expertise to determine the finalists for each category.  Winners are selected from each category of finalists by The WTN with the guidance of the judge rating system and a panel of leading experts in each category. 

A full list of the 2016 World Technology Award finalists is available at: http://www.wtn.net/summit-2016/finalists

Bristol leads the SPHERE collaboration across a number of UK Universities including Southampton, Reading, Newcastle, UCL, Manchester and Queen Mary

Further information

About SPHERE
SPHERE (Sensor Platform for HEalthcare in a Residential Environment) is an interdisciplinary research collaboration (IRC) funded by the EPSRC and led by the University of Bristol, together with the universities of Southampton and Reading.

The project, which focuses on developing sensor systems to monitor health and wellbeing in the home, is working in partnership with Bristol City Council, IBM, Toshiba and Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC).

About The World Technology Network (“The WTN”)
The WTN is a curated membership community comprised of the world’s most innovative individuals and organisations in science, technology, and related fields. The WTN and its members – those creating the 21st century – are focused on exploring what is imminent, possible, and important in and around emerging technologies.

The WTN brings key players together – from cutting-edge technologists to forward-thinking financiers, from conceptual futurists to grounded entrepreneurs, from insightful science writers to savvy marketers, from big-picture government officials to focused policy analysts, and from the world’s leading corporations to the world’s newest start-ups – helping to make things happen sooner and better than they might have.

The WTN exists to encourage serendipity – the happy accidents of colliding ideas and new relationships that cause the biggest breakthroughs for individuals and institutions.  The WTN works to accomplish its mission through global and regional events for its members (and others) to help make connections among them, and to examine the likely implications and possible applications of emerging technologies.

The World Technology Awards are presented each year to the outstanding innovators from each sector within the technology arena, both as a way to honour those individuals and as a vetting mechanism to determine the newest WTN members.

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