Pigeon Corporation (Headquarters: Tokyo, President: Shigeru Yamashita), a manufacturer of general childcare products, held the "Pigeon Student Idea Contest 2019 'Babycathon'" at Kanda Myojin Hall (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) on March 20. The term "Baby Carson" was coined by combining the words "stroller" and "hackathon." The contest is for university students to compete for ideas on the theme of "IoT-based strollers that make the daily lives of babies, mothers and their families more comfortable and enjoyable. Five universities in the Tokyo metropolitan area (Ochanomizu University, Shonan Institute of Technology, Chiba Institute of Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Nihon University) participated in the contest and presented their ideas, which they had devised over about a month, at the venue.
Ms. Miki Fujimoto, a TV personality and mother of two, and Mr. Koji Koizumi, the representative of IoTNEWS, were invited as guest judges, and they listened intently to the students' presentations from the perspectives of both mothers and IoT experts.
The Tokyo Institute of Technology won the Grand Prize as a result of a judging process that scored items such as innovation through IoT, creativity, and contribution to mothers and babies. The team proposed the idea of a "baby carriage sharing service" that allows users to borrow and return any type of carriage at any place they like. They also devised an idea for a "stroller map" that measures the baby's ride and comfort using sensors mounted on the stroller, and uses the data obtained to provide peace of mind even when visiting a place for the first time. In addition to the originality of the idea, the presentation, which included interaction between the students and a demonstration, was highly evaluated by the judges.
The President's Award went to Ochanomizu University, which devised a function that recognizes the object of interest and the comfortable rocking of the stroller from the baby's facial expressions and gaze, and recommends a walking course by collecting data.
At the award ceremony, Ms. Fujimoto said, "These were all ideas that I don't think of very often when I'm raising children. I'd love to see a second one held." (Ms. Fujimoto)
Ms. Koizumi commented, "It was wonderful that all the universities were not biased toward cutting-edge technology, but were close to the perspective of mothers and babies. They expressed their hopes for the next event and sent their encouragement to the young engineers of the future.
