The Smart Pill Wins SPARKs Will Fly Developer Contest

Through the SPARKs Will Fly contest, Microsoft invited developers to imagine the “home of the future” with the Windows Embedded operating system at its heart. The Smart Pill was the winning project, out of the submissions entered by over 140 participants worldwide. Doug Conn, the author of The Smart Pill, was awarded $15,000 as the winner of the Windows Embedded SPARKs Will Fly developer contest, at the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) Silicon Valley 2009 on April 3. The Smart Pill project is focused on building an intelligent medication dispenser by taking advantage of Windows Embedded.

“The SPARKs Will Fly contest is a platform for hobbyist and academic developers to showcase their abilities and bring fresh thinking to the table,” explained Ilya Bukshteyn, senior director of Windows Embedded Marketing at Microsoft. “We are proud to acknowledge the efforts of Doug Conn and all the participants who demonstrated tremendous enthusiasm and creativity in striving to create the next generation of smart, connected, service-oriented devices.”

In the video embedded at the bottom of this article you will be able to see a demonstration of The Smart Pill. In addition to the $15,000, Conn will also be able to take advantage of an all-inclusive trip to the Microsoft TechEd North America 2009 conference in Los Angeles, scheduled between May 11–15. Also invited to TechEd North America 2009 is Jason Hershkowitz, whose project, The Home Brain, was runner up at the SPARKs Will Fly contest.

“Prescription medications are powerful chemicals that must be administered and taken with care. Keeping track of the vast information surrounding these medications and managing them correctly can be a daunting task. The Smart Pill is my name for a device that addresses many of the issues surrounding medication errors. It combines disparate technologies into a machine that recognizes a patient’s medications, understands the pharmaceutical information, and helps the user take the correct medication at the right time,” Conn revealed.