On 9 April, the finalists of the World JAIN Challenge (WJC) were broadcast, and on 23 April the winners were announced after the finalists went through a few rounds of revisions by an international jury including members from Alzheimer Europe's European Working Group of People with Dementia (Kevin Quaid, Lieselotte Klotz, Angela Pototschnigg and Věra Ryšavá) and European Dementia Carers Working Group (Sonata Mačiulskytė, Peter Banda, Paddy Crosbie and Barry Northedge). The main purpose of the WJC is to form the international learning community who are developing technology solutions for people with memory problems or dementia, informal carers and family, healthcare professionals, and healthcare institutions, which:
• increase self-reliance and quality of life of people with memory problems or dementia and informal carers
• extend the time that people with memory problems or with memory problems or dementia can live in one's own living environment
• support informal carers, family, and healthcare professionals
• reduce costs within healthcare promoting affordable healthcare.
The WJC 2024 is a public competition for developed or prototyped technical products and services based on Artificial Intelligence. It concerns technology solutions that support the quality of life and self-reliance of people with memory problems or dementia and their informal carers and that will support professional and informal carers in providing optimal care. On 9 April, the WJC programme included a series of presentations includ-ing an opening by Dr Franka Meiland (Chair of the WJC 2024), followed by a presentation from Dr Arlene Astell (University of Toronto). After that, the six finalists, three in each category (prototypes and full-fledged products), presented their technology solutions in the form of pitches.
The three finalists in the "prototype" category were:
- GG Care: A virtual elderly and dementia care guide powered by Amazon Alexa's Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology.
- The Empathic Coach: A virtual, human-shaped, assistant that helps people with cognitive problems or dementia with different tasks, such as organising schedules, and providing medication reminders and instructions on how to take medication.
- HELP-ICE: A wearable badge clip, designed for vulnerable individuals, including people living with dementia, which helps bystanders or healthcare providers to access important information about a person in case of an emergency.
This was followed by the three finalists in the "product" category, which were:
• Calendar Clock: It helps individuals maintain a sense of continuity by allowing the person to differentiate day and night, to anticipate daily activities and to engage in a more structured routine.
• Memory Lane: A smart photo frame that stimulates memories, promotes safety and independence, and reduces feelings of isolation, while features like video calls and life-style monitoring promote connectivity and quality of life.
• D-Time: A screen that detects restlessness and helps experts and close ones to stay connected with each other, understand how to provide the most effective support to the person with dementia, and closely monitor the effectiveness of the support provided.
On 23 April, the WJC award ceremony took place. The ceremony started with an introduction from Thomas Arnold. This was followed by a presentation from Vijay Karwal (Chief Executive Officer of AffaMed Therapeutics) about "Recent investment trends and strategic considerations in global Alzheimer's care". After this, Dr Meiland explained the judging and selection processes of the WJC international independent jury. Following this, the winners were announced:
• The prototype winner of the 2024 WJC is GG Care (by David Grey).
• The winner in the category of full-fledged products is Memory Lane (by Rudolf Wolterbeek).