Technology Transfer Office
Computer Scientist Viktor de Boer wins New Ideas Competition 2009 with interactive play rug
Mathijs de Bruin awarded both student prize and public prize for ‘Peer-to-peer logistics’
Play'd
De Boer's idea Play'd consists of an interactive and adaptive electronic play rug. Play'd has been developed for very young children. It is a soft, thick travel rug that simultaneously functions as an interactive play environment. The rug is composed of several compartments, each with a different colour and fabric surface. Below the surface of each of these compartments there is a sensor that enables the young child to communicate with the adaptive system underneath in natural way. This can be an optical sensor, an audio sensor or a haptic sensor that registers touch. At the same time, Play'd is able to give feedback in the form of sounds, light signals and vibrations produced by respective actuators, which are also incorporated into the Play'd. Play'd is designed for young children. The rug can be introduced as early as in the sensorimotor stage (0-2 years), but can also be used as a toy by older children (2-6 years) to further stimulate cognitive development and creativity.
Peer-to-peer logistics
De Bruin's idea of Peer-to-peer logistics is a method of coordinating logistics processes - the transportation of any items from A to B via C, D, E and F - in a completely decentralised manner. This makes it possible for both small and large carriers to link up to a (theoretically) global network via one or two other carriers, thus enabling them to transport almost anything from any one location to any other location, something that also works on a small scale. The idea behind the method is that reliable protocols and standards will be devised to formally describe logistics processes, and to formally describe relationships of trust between chains in the network. This could lead to a high degree of clarity with regard to transport and items to be transported and the development of a chain of trust across all points between the sender and the recipient. In turn, this would make it easy to find complex transport channels for real goods digitally, similar to how this currently takes place with data packages on the internet.
Jury
The jury for the New Ideas Competition 2009 is comprised of: Prof. Robbert Dijkgraaf (President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences [KNAW], chairman of the jury), Prof. Mirjam van Praag (Director of the Amsterdam Centre for Entrepreneurship and Professor of Entrepreneurship), Tom Schwarz (Fund Manager of the Life Science Fund Amsterdam), Mr Jan Post (Knowledge Ambassador UvA), and Mr Harry van Dorenmalen (General Manager of IBM Benelux).