Isabella Hillmer, Laura Bücheler, (l-r), GHOST — feel it., 2019, Porsche AG

Drive and feel: These are the winners of Porsche NEXT OI Competition 2019

11/06/2019

What a ride! After more than three months of hard work, feedback rounds with Porsche experts and an exciting semi-final, the five finalists of this year’s Porsche NEXT OI Competition presented their solutions for the sports car of the future in Ludwigsburg last week.

Starting the open innovation competition in February, Porsche opened more than 300 data sources and functions of Porsche cars on the HIGH MOBILITY platform to enable participating startups, developers and students to build their own applications with simulated Porsche APIs and present and test them virtually. Until the final, 749 active users developed prototypes, created 669 emulators and submitted a total of 155 projects to the expert and jury team of Porsche.

Winning the jury over in 7 minutes: Porsche NEXT OI Finals

In our last blogpost, we already introduced the selected five best teams and their ideas. Last Thursday, they came together in Ludwigsburg from all over the world to pitch in front of the jury consisting of 12 top managers from all specialist areas — from Smart Mobility to Porsche Digital and Purchasing. Within only 7 minutes time, the teams had to present their initial idea, show the level of implementation and convince the jury not only of their creativity and competence but also of the business value of their solution.

Jury of Porsche NEXT OI Finals, 2019, Porsche AG — The jury consisted of 12 top managers from Porsche and their partners

And the winner is…

Most convincing to the jury was the solution of GHOST — feel it.: The startup, which was founded in 2017 by neuroscientist Isabella Hillmer and engineer Laura Bücheler, wants to improve the interaction between human and machine using the sense of touch. Their idea relies on a technology that expands human perception and enables, for example, amputees to feel their prosthesis. The solution submitted to the competition integrates this innovative technology into Porsche seats so that the driver gets haptic feedback from his seat on how to move his vehicle best and safest. Together with Porsche Digital Lab in Berlin, the winning team will now further evaluate on how to meet the needs of Porsche drivers and put the technology on the road.

The winner doesn’t take it all: 3 teams will further develop their idea with Porsche

Alongside the winning team, the second and third place winners also have the opportunity to further develop their ideas together with Porsche.

Porsche Next Open Innnovation Competition, Ludwigsburg, 2019, Porsche AG — Anja Hendel, Andy Grau, Stefan Zerweck and the three winning teams of Porsche NEXT OI

Second place went to “Way Ahead Technology” by Roger Rueegg and Dominik Stocker from Switzerland. Their app tracks, documents and visualizes routes live in 3D. It enables augmented reality functions for head-up displays and virtual cockpits, such as virtually extended lane boundaries that make driving easier and safer during the night or with poor visual conditions.

Roger Rueegg, 2019, Porsche AG — Roger Rueegg presenting the “Way Ahead Technology”

The third place was won by a team from Great Britain consisting of Nikita Dedik, Alex Urbanovich, Valeriy Britaus and Kirill Khomko. The app “Road.Travel for Porsche” is an online platform that combines the planning and booking of trips and the exchange of travel experiences.

Nikita Dedik from Road.Travel, 2019, Porsche AG — Nikita Dedik from Road.Travel

Continuing the dialogue

If you want to learn more about the Porsche Next OI Competition, join us at NOAH conference in Berlin on June 13 and 14. Under the motto “Next Visions. Change the game — Create tomorrow”, we will enter into a dialogue with founders and startups to further open up as a company and to continually expand our network of partners — because we want to shape the future of the sports car together. This is why we’re taking the 2019 winners with us: Don’t miss the chance to meet the GHOST — feel it. team at our booth at NOAH Conference and get in contact. We’re looking forward to meeting many of you!