Activities
Better Technology Awards
The Awards aim to encourage design & marketing of technology related products to assist persons with a disability. The Awards are made on a biennial basis at the Australian Rehabilitation & Assistive Technology Association (ARATA) Conference in both Commercial & Prototype categories.
Eligibility
The product must be designed and/or manufactured in Australia or New Zealand at the time of judging.
2 categories are offered:
Commercial - The product must be in its initial production run or have been available in the market place for no longer than 24 months.
Prototype - The product must be in its prototype stage prior to commercial production.
The product to be assessed for the award consists of the whole package available to the end user. This includes quality control systems, maintenance support, product sales literature and packaging where appropriate. For more information please refer to the judging guidelines in nomination form.
If practical, the product must be able to be demonstrated at the ARATA Conference.
Awards
Awards will be awarded for 1st and 2nd place in each category.
1st Prize is $500
2nd Prize is $250
Each award winning recipient will also be presented with a certificate.
2010 Winner
Prototype - 1st Prize
A computer game-based arm rehabilitation device called Able-X, developed by Industrial Research Ltd Assistive Devices Team in Christchurch N.Z., led by Research Engineer Mr. Marcus King. Marcus was presented the award at the ARATA Conference in Hobart, August 2010.
The next Awards will be in 2012.
