Shine
19th December 2023
Prosthetic hand, Chinese Braille designers walk away with top awards
By Wu Huixin
Founded in 2015, the Design Intelligence Awards are regarded as "the Oscar of the industrial design domain."
The two winners of the Design Intelligence Awards received 1 million yuan (US$139, 969) each on December 15.
This year's competition attracted over 7,000 entries from 41 countries and regions. Overseas projects accounted for 43 percent of all projects. The top 30 finalists represented a diverse range of industries, including artificial intelligence, healthcare, environmental protection, cars, furniture and toys.
"DIA never charges an admission fee in order to provide more opportunities for startups and young designers," said Lu Tao, secretary general of the organization committee.
"The prizewinners can exemplify DIA's evaluation standards and ideals."
Texas-based BrainRobotics Company's bionic hand won the top prize.
The BrainRobotics prosthetic hand allows upper-limb users to use muscle impulses to control a bionic hand.
It has 10 joints, a powered thumb, 14 grips and movable digits. The thumb has two high-precision micro-motors, while the other four fingers have one. With its high-precision turbine shaft and grip power, the motor supports the movement of digits.
The company makes bionic hands using aviation-grade aluminium alloy and food-grade plastic. An implanted electrode system controls the hand using forearm electromyography signals.