Excitement surges as design contest nears big finale

Four life changing designs will battle it out for the ultimate prize in the much anticipated final of the Blackwood Design Awards 2015.

Now just around the corner, the final will see the contestants going up before a panel of expert judges in a Dragon’s Den style presentation.

‘To win this competition would be amazing’ Says Grant Douglas, whose entry the S’Up Spoon is one of the finalists. ‘It would be a great accolade to be recognised in this way especially as the finalists are from round the world’.

This year’s competition certainly is an international affair, with entries coming from Pakistan, California and just about everywhere in between.

Another finalist, Markus Pröll, will be Skyping the panel live from Austria to convince the judges that his entry, Kinesic Mouse, deserves to win.

‘All finalists are high quality projects as they already went through a tough elimination process and even a public voting. Any of the final designs deserves a win. I will do my best to convince the jury about the possible impact on the quality of life for the users and the huge untapped potential of my application.’

Markus, who entered primarily ‘to have [his] application judged by real experts’, created a piece of software to enable users to control their computer using head movements. With Kinesic Mouse, users can surf the web, use email and even play video games hands free.

Accessible public transport is on the rise!

Two of the finalists have garnered a lot of attention for their dedicated attention to improving public transport for wheelchair users.

Peter Short is an Australian graduate currently working in Canada. His entry dubbed POSTA is intended to make air travel much easier and less stressful. POSTA is an adapted airline seat that the person can transfer into and that can easily slide in and out of the seat on the plane. No more awkward lifting and transferring people on flights.

‘I felt that my design addressed a very important issue in the commercial aviation industry that has been over-looked for years. At the rate that the industry is growing, there will be a higher need for devices like POSTA that assist the disabled with air travel.’ – Peter Short

On the other hand Matilda Swanson focused on buses for her design, SAT Bus. Her conceptual design explored ways to make buses more accessible to wheelchair users.

Public transport plays a key role in our society and I believe that accessibility should be equal for everyone. bespoken has played a huge part in my design process and I gained some very valuable insights from the community. Winning would be a massive personal achievement and I would be very honoured to win such a prestigious prize. – Matilda Swanson

All four finalists are now eagerly awaiting the final. The volunteer judges come from a number of professions and backgrounds including law, design, engineering, sports and the volunteer sector. We will also have the unique perspective from a few Blackwood Tenants and some wheelchair users, allowing for unbiased, fair and practical assessment of each design.

Have you been following the competition? Who do you think most deserves to win this year?

Excitement surges as design contest nears big finale

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