CHIRON Care Robotics Art Challenge

CHIRON is holding an arts competition in conjunction with UK Robotics Week 2017 to encourage people to think creatively about how we care for people in the future.

The UK has a growing population of people who need care and a limited workforce and budget to do it with. Using robots will be part of how we manage the future of care.
The competition will be judged by members of the CHIRON team, an experienced group of engineers, designers, professors and professionals with experience in working towards building assistive technology for the care sector.

We want to hear from you if you are 16 or over (there is no upper limit), living in mainland Great Britain and have one of the following:

• A unique drawing or computer graphic of a robotic solution that you think could make a real difference to society
• A piece of artwork which relates to care robotics
• Creative writing which explores the care crisis landscape or a positive future of humans and care robots.
• Something outside the box!

Whatever your idea or creation, we look forward to receiving it.

The Challenge for the UK

We are facing a care crisis of epic proportions. In less than 20 years’ time the number of over 65’s in the UK, currently at 10 million, will have risen to 17 million. Yet estimates show we won’t have sufficient care workers to tend to this ageing population. The demand on our existing healthcare services will require fresh ideas and perspectives for how we face these challenges. The long term care market is currently worth over £20 billion to UK economy. It is expected to grow up to 50% by 2020.

Assistive robots remain in the background of today’s “not fit for purpose” care system. While governments fund projects that focus on designing care robotics for the future (such as CHIRON) we must tread carefully when designing technology to work with humans at their most vulnerable stage in life. The question many are now asking is: what should these assistive robots be like – should we design this technology to look like a machine, or should we attempt to make them seem more human?

How to Enter

Please submit your drawing, visualisation, model, animation, computer graphic or piece of creative writing (under 1000 words) along with a short description (maximum 100 words) on your submission to the form below.

Please note: The deadline has now been extended to midnight on 30th September 2017.

Prizes

As an incentive, CHIRON and Designability are offering some exciting prizes detailed below.

First Prize

The idea considered the best by the CHIRON judges will be rewarded with £500 cash, an overnight stay in a hotel in Bristol and a chance to see robots under construction with a guided tour for you and a friend of Bristol Robotics Laboratory with a member of the CHIRON team!

Second Prize

The idea that is deemed our second favourite, and shows a high level of creativity and merit, will be rewarded with a £100 book voucher plus you and a friend will have a guided tour of Bristol Robotics Laboratory with a member of the CHIRON team (we will also cover travel costs to and from BRL).

Highly Commended

A list of names of any highly-commended entrants will be published on the CHIRON website.

(Please note: Under 18’s will be required to bring a parent or guardian along for the tour of the laboratory).

All Entries

CHIRON reserves the right to work with entrant to exploit ideas that have commercial merit and align with the objectives of the CHIRON project. This means that if you come up with a really useful idea that fits into the future exploitation of CHIRON, you own a part a product for the future of robot assisted care.

To enter, please fill out the form below. 

If you cannot send a link to your artwork, please put the word ‘Email’ into the ‘Link to Content’ box and then email content directly (after you have completed this form) to using an email attachment or Wetransfer for bigger files.
Alternatively you can post your content to: CHIRON Competition, Three Sisters Care, St Georges Town Hall, 236 Cable Street, London, E1 0BL.

Closing date 30th September 2017

Terms and Conditions

1. The closing date is midnight on 30th September 2017, any entry received after this date will not be considered.
2. Only one entry per person.
3. Entrants must be the sole creator(s) of the work and all work must be original.
4. This competition is intended for individuals only. Organisations or groups will not be considered.
5. There is only one prize per entry.
6. Prize winners will be offered a choice of two potential dates for which they may visit BRL for the tour of the laboratory.
7. The competition is only open to mainland UK residents aged 16 years or over – under 18 winners will be required to bring a parent or guardian to the tour of the laboratory.
8. The competition is not open to members of the CHIRON team or employees of any of the six CHIRON consortium partners or their family members.
9. A shortlist will be made by the CHIRON judges after the closing date from all entries received. The two winners will then be chosen based on merit, on the agreement of the CHIRON judges.
10. Winners will be notified by email or telephone (using the details provided at entry) and announced at a BRL event during UK Robotics Week. Following such notification, the winner will be required to send CHIRON any reasonable relevant details requested so they can receive their prize.
11. If CHIRON cannot contact the winner (via the details provided at the date of entry) within a reasonable period of time (to be established at CHIRON’s sole discretion), CHIRON reserves the right to choose another winner and thereafter until a winner on these terms is found.
12. By entering this CHIRON Competition, you agree to have your name, details and photo published online.
13. The list of winners will be available within six weeks after the closing date and published on the CHIRON website.
14. Shortlisted clients are not entitled to any prize, but a list of any names from highly commended entries will be published on the website and these entrants can claim they were shortlisted for this competition.
15. Entrants retain copyright of their own work.
16. CHIRON reserves the right to develop the idea into commercial services or products or otherwise use the idea and to work with the entrant as appropriate.
17. Entries may be used and shared by CHIRON for promotional purposes and when shared, the entries will always be attributed to the entrant.
18. Any instances where CHIRON would like to use the entry for any other purposes other than stated in term 15, permission must be sought from the entrant.
19. Entries must not have been shortlisted for or been placed in any previous competition.
20. All prizes are subject to availability, and CHIRON reserves the right to replace the prize with an alternative prize of equal or higher value if necessary at their discretion.