CityRobotics Design•a•Hack•a•thon: A Cross-sector Open Innovation Experimentation

Lead Organizer  |  MIT Media Lab x UCSD Design Lab x D-Ford x IDEO (2018)

BACKGROUND  |  Recent advancements in autonomous and intelligent machines introduce an unprecedented opportunity to reimagine how people live, work, and play. Mobility—personal or shared,  passenger-use or goods-moving—can be designed to prioritize the human experience, enhancing people’s abilities to lead creative, productive, gratifying and sustainable lives. We created this event to bring together leading scientists, engineers, designers, and policymakers from across the public and private sectors to address emerging challenges in urban mobility, and to explore new directions for potential futures through three topics:

  1. Life Mobility:  How might we make active mobility—walking, cycling, skateboarding, scooting, ferrying, etc.—an universally awesome experience?  How might new forms of active mobility enable new ways of travel in the city, for not just individuals, but also for lovers and families, and people of all abilities, needs, and incomes?

  2. Socially Intelligent Robots:  How might we make machines socially and sensorially empathetic to enhance the wellbeing of people and to enable more trusting, productive, and sustainable relationships? How can machines better interact with people on the move—riders, pedestrians, cyclists, etc.?

  3. The New Street:  How might we reimagine streets and urban infrastructures in response to emerging challenges associated with new technology and changing modes of consumption and production?  How might we facilitate sustainable community development while prioritizing the human experience?

PROCESS  |  Through an iterative, co-creative process with the participation of the Media Lab, IDEO, D-Ford, and Don Norman’s UCSD Design Lab,  “Design•a•Hack•a•thon" emerged as a 3-day hybrid exercise of design research and rapid prototyping with a strong support of a large mentor team:

  • Day 1: Design Observation & Problem Exploration

  • Day 2: Rapid Prototyping 

  • Day 3: Expert Input,  Iteration, and Demo

RESULT  | Participation of 20+ leading private & public sector organizations and 125+ university students from across the New England area. Students and selected corporate participants teamed up and worked side-by-side throughout the 3 days. The majority of teams succeeded in incorporating user research & evaluation into the development of their prototypes. $10,000 cash prize and 10 Apple Watches were awarded to 6 winning teams.

Official Event Page: https://www.media.mit.edu/events/city-robotics-hackathon/