CHIRON Care Robotics Art Challenge

The CHIRON project is holding an arts competition in conjunction with UK Robotics Week 2017 to encourage people to think creatively about how we care for people in the future.

The UK has a growing population of people who need care and a limited workforce and budget to do it with. Using robots will be part of how we manage the future of care.
The competition will be judged by members of the CHIRON team, an experienced group of engineers, designers, professors and professionals with experience in working towards building assistive technology for the care sector.

We want to hear from you if you are 16 or over (there is no upper limit), living in mainland Great Britain and have one of the following:

• A unique drawing or computer graphic of a robotic solution that you think could make a real difference to society
• A piece of artwork which relates to care robotics
• Creative writing which explores the care crisis landscape or a positive future of humans and care robots.
• Something outside the box!

Whatever your idea or creation, we look forward to receiving it.

The Challenge for the UK

We are facing a care crisis of epic proportions. In less than 20 years’ time the number of over 65’s in the UK, currently at 10 million, will have risen to 17 million. Yet estimates show we won’t have sufficient care workers to tend to this ageing population. The demand on our existing healthcare services will require fresh ideas and perspectives for how we face these challenges. The long term care market is currently worth over £20 billion to UK economy. It is expected to grow up to 50% by 2020.

Assistive robots remain in the background of today’s “not fit for purpose” care system. While governments fund projects that focus on designing care robotics for the future (such as CHIRON) we must tread carefully when designing technology to work with humans at their most vulnerable stage in life. The question many are now asking is: what should these assistive robots be like – should we design this technology to look like a machine, or should we attempt to make them seem more human?

How to Enter

Please submit your drawing, visualisation, model, animation, computer graphic or piece of creative writing (under 1000 words) along with a short description (maximum 100 words) on your submission to the CHIRON website.

Please note: The deadline is midnight on 30th September 2017.

Prizes

As an incentive, CHIRON and Designability are offering some exciting prizes detailed below.

First Prize

The idea considered the best by the CHIRON judges will be rewarded with £500 cash, an overnight stay in a hotel in Bristol and a chance to see robots under construction with a guided tour for you and a friend of Bristol Robotics Laboratory with a member of the CHIRON team!

Second Prize

The idea that is deemed our second favourite, and shows a high level of creativity and merit, will be rewarded with a £100 book voucher plus you and a friend will have a guided tour of Bristol Robotics Laboratory with a member of the CHIRON team (we will also cover travel costs to and from BRL).

Highly Commended

A list of names of any highly-commended entrants will be published on the CHIRON website.

(Please note: Under 18’s will be required to bring a parent or guardian along for the tour of the laboratory).

All Entries

CHIRON reserves the right to work with entrant to exploit ideas that have commercial merit and align with the objectives of the CHIRON project. This means that if you come up with a really useful idea that fits into the future exploitation of CHIRON, you own a part a product for the future of robot assisted care.

To enter, please visit the CHIRON website and scroll down to the submission form.