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Here's one that will catch the attention of Trekkies amongst us - there's a $10 million prize up for grabs for whoever can meet the Tricorder challenge.Qualcomm and the X PRIZE Foundation - a "nonprofit organization solving the world's Grand Challenges of our time" - have the design challenge to "develop a mobile solution that can diagnose patients better than or equal to a panel of board certified physicians".
Now there's a challenge worthy of a Supreme-Gadget-Master!
Don't know what the Star Trek Tricorder is? It is a kind of non-intrusive, hand-held, automated diagnostic device, used for medical or engineering purposes. Wikipedia describes it thus:
Three primary variants of the tricorder are issued in Star Trek's Starfleet. The standard tricorder is a general-purpose device used primarily to scout unfamiliar areas, make detailed examination of living things, and record and review technical data. The medical tricorder is used by doctors to help diagnose diseases and collect bodily information about a patient; the key difference between this and a standard tricorder is a detachable hand-held high-resolution scanner stored in a compartment of the tricorder when not in use.Eugene Wesley "Rod" Roddenberry, Jr., son of Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry, commented, "It is great to see two amazing organizations - the X PRIZE Foundation and Qualcomm - bring the technology of Star Trek to life and make the Tricorder a reality for people everywhere."
"For years, Qualcomm has been transforming lives by connecting people through incredible technologies," said Dr. Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. "The X PRIZE Foundation is honored to work with Qualcomm to positively affect health consumers by developing a prize that will revolutionize consumer's access to health data and information."
The companies expect to formally launch the competition in early 2012.
Read more about the Tricorder challenge >>
And there's more here - 'Trek' tricorder could win $10 million
See also: Star Trek gizmos, The Collection
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