The University of Southern California (USC) Center for Body Computing (CBC), part of Keck Medicine of USC, has announced its annual USC CBC SLAM event created this year in collaboration with Skullcandy Inc. to challenge creative minds to use music in a way that helps consumers better understand their personal health. Four finalists will present their ideas to an expert judging panel on the evening of October 2. In addition to a $10,000 prize, the final winner will present their idea on center stage the next day at the 8th annual USC Center for Body Computing Conference.
The competition offers creatives of all types a forum to use their imaginations to present a digital experience assuming a sensor(s) resides in headphones that can in turn educate, inspire or change how consumers understand their own health or even change their behavior for a healthier lifestyle. The USC CBC SLAM contest each year promotes imaginative, disruptive, next-generation digital health innovation. Previous winners have included LumoBack, a start-up with a posture sensor, and Vampire Rancher, a mobile social gaming platform for children with diabetes. To find out how to submit a proposal, visit the USC CBC website: http://bodycomputing.squarespace.com/slam-contest-2014-now-stream/. Proposals are due by September 22 and finalists for the live pitch in Los Angeles will be chosen by September 26.
“Through the birth of on-demand mobile music platforms and small wireless body-worn sensors, we now have the technology to build innovative products that incorporate and tailor music to the signals our bodies generate,” said Leslie Saxon. M.D., a cardiologist and executive director and founder of the USC Center for Body Computing. “The support and collaboration with Skullcandy, takes this year’s USC CBC SLAM event to a whole new level where music becomes the driver for human potential and personal health empowerment.”
Skullcandy, the original lifestyle and performance audio brand, is sponsoring the USC CBC SLAM event and will also further its collaboration with USC by becoming a vital partner on future research that shows the impact of music and biometrics.
“We know how powerful music can be whether it is inspiring athletic accomplishments, alleviating stress or its therapeutic affect on those with Parkinson’s disease, depression and Alzheimer’s,” says Hoby Darling, CEO of Skullcandy. “Our involvement with USC extends our reach beyond sports and entertainment to have meaningful impact on health – heart rates, brainwaves, mood. We see this collaboration with USC’s Center for Body Computing as a perfect marriage where we both have the same future vision: help people live better lives.”
The 8th Annual USC Center for Body Computing Conference is an event designed to bring digital and life sciences executives, sensor and mobile app inventors, strategists, designers, investors and visionaries from health care, entertainment and technology together for one day to showcase an international array of digital and mobile health ideas. Founded by Leslie Saxon, an international digital health guru and trained USC cardiologist who has spoken at TED MED and Wired international conferences, the USC CBC conference is her promise to make consumers “the heroes of their own health stories.” The conference will be held on the USC campus in downtown Los Angeles on October 3. For more information or to register for the conference, visit: uscbodycomputing.org
by Sherri Snelling