New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Concept category

Identify the award category for which this concept is being submitted
Prioritising the places and people that need it the most

Email user
pawel@wilczurak.eu

Basic information
Concept title
Tremma. Haptic Navigation System

Full Concept Title
The wearable device that improves spatial orientation and navigation through haptic technologies

Please provide a short, catchy description of your concept to be used in communication towards the public
The concept for a device that improves spatial orientation through haptic technology. Four vibration motors have been placed in the shoe insole. A motor pointing towards a destination navigates us by vibrating. The user simply feels the correct direction instead of constantly checking on the phone. It is important now to use technology responsible for our mental health, by it help those affected by Alzheimer's disease.

What was the geographical scope of your concept?
National

Where was your concept implemented?
Member State(s) and Western Balkans
Poland

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
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Does your concept address mainly urban or rural issues?
It addresses urban-rural linkages

Does your concept refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)

Has your concept benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

Has your concept won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As an individual
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
- URL: https://www.instagram.com/wilczurak/
In case my concept is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my concept in the channels of the European Commission
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
Social Media

Description of the concept
Please provide a summary of your concept.
The concept for a device that improves spatial orientation through haptic technology. Four vibration motors have been placed in the shoe insole. A motor pointing towards a destination navigates us by vibrating. The user simply feels the correct direction instead of constantly checking on the phone. It could work on short distances, areas nearby, or long distances during wild hiking.

As the system builds into the shoe insole, it could be attached to any pair of shoes by placing the insole inside. There would be two modes of the device. First, that navigates us to the place we want to go. After pointing a destination on the mobile map app insole starts giving us smooth vibrating hints that tell us where is our destination. The destinations could be pre-saved as well.

The second mode can give the user information about the area around them, inform about needed objects nearby, or warn of danger. That would be especially helpful for the disabled and those affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

The project came as the conceptual and futuristic vision of expanding human senses. However, during tests, and presentations it came, that this wearable would be helpful for people disabled or those affected by Alzheimer's disease.

In current times it is important to use technology responsibly way for our mental health, as many devices got too addictive and disturb hormonal balance. Reconnecting with the real us and starting (again) to focus on what is around us (nature) instead of what disturbs us can lead to symbiosis and more sustainable actions.

Please indicate the main themes of your concept with 5 key words.
Wearables

Please indicate the main themes of your concept with key words
Against Alzheimer

Please indicate the main themes of your concept with key words
Mental health in a time of high technology progress

Please indicate the main themes of your concept with key words
Sensory augmentation

Please indicate the main themes of your concept with key words
Navigation

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept in terms of sustainability and how these have been met. Please highlight how the concept can be exemplary in this context.
Investing in health, education, and knowledge are part of human sustainability. Tremma is a smart device that focuses on mental health instead of addiction to information.

In current times it is really important to design the way that objects, spaces, and experiences can serve for impaired and able-bodied. That takes advantage of sustainable material and time production.

Haptic Navigation System is a technology that improves personal skills and stimulates the improvement of intuition and personal growth. It means that it perfectly fits the aims of a sustainable human society with a positive impact on those impaired as well.

At the same time this wearable shares awareness of similarities between humans and animals. Reconnecting with nature and having more attention to it, understanding more broaden the meaning of life, leads to the protection of endangered species, well-being in symbiosis.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the concept can be exemplary in this context.
The current prototype meets the user’s optimism and fascination. Many people are amazed at how they can feel space in different ways through the insole and foot. The project extends a sense of getting information to not only visual experience. By using our bodies in a broad way, we can start biohack more potential of our born interface. Impaired gets more information via the substitution of senses that they could not use. Tremma System moves the meaning of the User Interface from a screen into feeling it by a body with a focus on mental health.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the concept can be exemplary in this context.
Inspiration for that wearable came from how animals perceive the world and what senses do they have. I have considered which of animal world skills would be useful for human in future. Many birds, fishes and turtles use unique possibility to feel magnetic fields and navigate on long distances. Humans used to have that sense (magnetoreception) in the past, however it has been lost during evolution. Usage of sensory augmentatiion can give that skill for human again and make us possible to use body more effecively than we do right now.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the concept and civil society have been / will be involved in the concept and what has been / will be the impact of this involvement on the concept.
Everyone can become a user of this wearable. Tremma can serve everyone who want’s to use their bodies more than they actually do. Those impaired can get the helpful hints and use devices in day-to-day life as new senses or substitutions for what that they have lost.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and development of the concept. Please highlight what the added value of their engagement was
Project has been started as bachelor diploma on Design field at Academy of Art in Szczecin. Thesis supervisors were tutors with many years practice and successful projects on the market. During design and concept development I have cooperated with specialists in psychology, cognitive science, and care assistance.

Please explain which disciplines and / or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and development of your concept. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was
Tremma is a wearable that came up from: concerns about the future vision of humanity, possibilities of human-computer interface improvements, worries about human conditions in current times and the addictive character of smartphones, and research around animals’ senses. If we could improve our bodies it could be done now by extending the senses and expanding usage of the interface – body. It all came up as a conceptual futuristic vision. However as I said before, the research and presentations led me to point out that this kind of wearable should help in the real world now. Those vision impaired or affected by Alzheimer's disease would get real help from technological input.

Please explain the innovative character of your concept when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the concept.
It has been seen that many solutions and innovative products now have been made in a way that addict and disturb hormonal balance. Usage of haptic and tactile technology, cognitive science, and psychology product has been created in cross-border and innovative character. Many wearables that appear right now can’t serve those impaired as well. The usage of technologies for that aim makes a unique change for the market.

Please which elements of your concept could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and contexts. This may involve, for example, aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings, etc.
The Tremma system navigation is a system that can be replicated or attached to any kind of object. Shoe insole can be only an inspiration for designers, producers to take a responsible for what is happening around.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the concept addresses by providing local solutions
Challenge of elderly society, "smart" devices addiction and neuronal balance disruption. We can face it in many ways. The project tries to face it by changing the way what devices we use, and what type of help from the technology we get.

Please attach the development plan of your concept. This plan should detail the plans you have for the further development and implementation of your concept, with a particular attention to the steps envisaged in the year following the application. The plan should also include envisaged results and benefits from the concept for direct and indirect beneficiaries. The results and benefits should be specified in relation to the objectives of the concept, and to what is expected in the context of the respective category

developmentplan_tremma.pdf
Please attach at least one high resolution image or visual representation of your concept to your application.
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload or write below
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By submitting your application you confirm that you are the copyright owner of the images provided and that they can be used by the European Commission for the purposes of promoting the New European Bauhaus on all platforms (websites, print, social media and other).
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that you are not in in one or more of the exclusion situations foreseen under Article 136 of the Financial Regulation.
Yes

By submitting this application, I declare that I am not related to the entities subject to EU restricted measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and subject to Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU)1, and entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/05), which are not eligible to participate in any capacity.
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that you assume sole liability in the event of a claim relating to the activities carried out in the framework of the contest, that the proposed concept has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Prizes in any other category or strand and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.
Yes

By submitting your application, you guarantee that you are the author or have the rights to proceed with the application and to authorise the use of the concept, initiative, and that you have obtained any necessary consents, licenses or assignments from third parties and included copyright notices when necessary.
Yes

By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their concepts, concepts, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted concept, concept is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
Yes

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
Yes