Nixie, the Selfie-Taking Drone, Wins Intel's $500,000 Make It Wearable Challenge

Eleven months ago, Intel kicked off the Make It Wearable (MIW) Challenge with the goal of inspiring the next big idea in wearables. Part-competition, part-entrepreneurial mentorship program, the challenge attracted thousands of global participants. Since then, 10 teams of young entrepreneurs and developers have been selected to have their limits tested as they push the boundaries of their imaginations. Today, Intel has announced the winner of the $500,000 Make It Wearable prize: Nixie, the wearable drone quadcopter.

This past weekend at the W Hotel in San Francisco, the ten teams presented their projects to a panel of expert judges, including tennis pro Venus Williams and the Chairman of LVMH Inc., Pauline Brown. After much deliberation (watch the live stream of the event here), the judges announced that the selfie-taking drone would be taking home the $500,000 prize.

For team leader Christoph Kohstall, project manager Jelena Jovanovic, and team member Michael Niedermayr, what started off as a flying pair of glasses is now a wristband that unfolds into a remote-controlled flyable camera, and the winner of the $500,000 Make It Wearable prize. Check out our documentary featurette on Nixie, below:

Intel also announced the second and third place winners of the Make It Wearable Challenge. In second place: Open Bionics' 3D printed prosthetic robotic hand:

In third place: Team Proglove's "smart tool" for production and manufacturing:

“All of these teams were great competitors,” Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said at the event. “All of them are going to be in the market as winners.”

The Creators Project congratulates all of the teams and competitors in the Make It Wearable Challenge. Click here to learn more about the Make It Wearable challenge, and for our past coverage on all of the finalists, check out the links below:

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Meet The Finalists Of Intel's Make It Wearable Challenge