2012 Humanizing Technology Prize – The Winners

Since April, we’ve been exploring the intersection of humanity and technology in our Humanizing Technologyseries, an online expo in partnership with Bing. Without a doubt, the series has had an ethical slant – a focus not only on what’s new and cool, but on technologies (or uses of technology) that improve our lives.

In addition to interviewing technological wizards and theorists like Jaron Lanier, we’ve been identifying nominees for the Humanizing Technology Prize, to be awarded at For Humankind, a real-world, pop-up expo taking place this weekend (June 29 – 31) in New York City. Many of these were submitted online by Big Think users.

To qualify, nominated technologies needed to:

directly serve a core human need

be a significant improvement upon already existing tools and methods for addressing this need.

amplify a positive human trait.

demonstrate significant potential for improving our lives, collectively.

integrate seamlessly into the normal flow of everyday life. and,

be unlikely to have negative, unintended consequences that are harmful or dehumanizing.

Nominees were grouped into three categories: Self-Help, Human Relationships, and Safety & Security. Today, we’re pleased to announce the three winners of the Humanizing Technology Prize.

2012 Humanizing Technology Prize: The Winners