Two ventures born at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute have won two of the three main prizes in Velocity, the University of Auckland’s annual innovation challenge in New Zealand, run by its Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Second place went to Tango, led by PhD student Andreia Valente. The system uses two small connected devices, one worn on each partner’s nose: when the non-snorer’s device detects snoring, the snorer’s vibrates to prompt them to roll over. Third place went to software that uses digital twins to help radiologists read breast MRI scans faster.
Tango received $20,000 in prize money and, with support from an incubator programme, the team will refine the prototype and explore ways to bring it to market.
