RIMOWA Design Compe­ti­tion: Five students, three teams, one winning duo

The RIMOWA Design Prize reco­g­nises forward-looking, inno­va­tive and soci­ally rele­vant concepts by young design talents. The fact that the HfG Schwä­bisch Gmünd was repre­sented in this year’s final with no fewer than three projects under­lines the high quality and inno­va­tive strength of its students. They all impres­si­vely demons­trated how well-thought-out indus­trial design can provide answers to the pres­sing chal­lenges of tomorrow.

First place:

Acces­sible commu­ni­ca­tion with ​‘NURA’ The high­light of the compe­ti­tion was the victory of Samuel Nagel and Paul Feiler. With ​‘NURA’, the team deve­loped an inno­va­tive high-tech wrist­band that bridges the tech­no­lo­gical gap between deaf and hearing people. The wearable device is capable of trans­la­ting sign language into spoken language (and vice versa), thereby enab­ling fluent, barrier-free commu­ni­ca­tion in ever­yday life. They were awarded first place for this outstan­ding achie­ve­ment.

But it wasn’t just the winning team that caused a stir. Two further HfG projects made it through to the grand final and deli­vered presen­ta­tions of the very highest standard:

With ​‘Compas­sion Aid’, Tim Kipper and John Roller made an important contri­bu­tion to the safety of emer­gency services personnel. Their mobile assis­tance system supports emer­gency respon­ders in confu­sing and stressful hazar­dous situa­tions by enab­ling a rapid, tactical assess­ment of the situa­tion through intel­li­gent sensor tech­no­logy and camera systems.

Jakob Schlenker also reached the final with his project ​‘PIP’. This is an AI-powered, bird-like compa­nion desi­gned speci­fi­cally for older people. Through playful acou­stic cues, ​‘PIP’ encou­rages more physical acti­vity in ever­yday life and, as an inter­ac­tive compa­nion, also helps to combat loneli­ness in old age.

The HfG Schwä­bisch Gmünd warmly congra­tu­lates all five fina­lists on this excep­tional achie­ve­ment. They have demons­trated just how valuable user-centred and forward-looking design is to our society.

Foto­credits: STUDIO CNP for RIMOWA