Mobility Solution Wins the 2012 Altran Foundation for Innovation International Award and the Innovation Makers Prize
PARIS, April 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
"Wi-Go", the winner of the Altran Foundation for Innovation 2012 Portuguese prize, is a software and camera-equipped shopping caddie capable of following people with reduced mobility in an intelligent manner. This project was voted winner of the Altran Foundation for Innovation for the 2012 International Prize, by a jury of professionals, investors and public figures; and awarded by the first prize of Altran's Innovation makers.
The winner project has been awarded out of seven European prize-winning projects based on a specific "innovation" theme designed to serve the common good, by the jury of experts and by 52% of the Group's collaborators' vote cast on the Foundation's Facebook page.
A two-time winner for one plebiscite
For people with reduced mobility - namely the elderly, the disabled, those in wheelchairs or on crutches, and parents with baby strollers, etc. - pushing a shopping caddie in a supermarket or in an airport is no easy task. While this would seem obvious, until now no-one has come up with a cost-effective solution offering enough advantages to ensure mobility and total autonomy.
Thanks to the use of advanced technologies and image recognition, the "“Wi-Go" shopping caddie can identify the user and any obstacles and dangers, without the user having to be equipped with a transmitter.
Altran lends its expertise towards making the project a success
The project creators will now have to finalise the demonstrator and implement pilot tests in a real-life context, before the commercial launch of this project which could have a potential impact on 5,700 shopping centres in Europe, and 15,000 airports counted in United States in 2012. Not only does the project benefit the largest number of people, it is already equipped with a prototype demonstrating its feasibility and offers real potential in terms of success and profitability.
The Altran Foundation for Innovation will pursue its skills-based sponsorship by lending its support in the form of the advanced-engineering and innovation expertise of the Group's 20,000 Innovation Makers to secure the completion of the project and resolve any specific issues; the prototype finalisation, specific commercial-launch training and even the prospective phases to equip the "Wi-Go" with a tablet and offer users additional services such as trip count, shopping lists and shopping-centre information synchronisation.
Share this article