HONORABLE MENTION

Brett Kim, age 18, Lena Luostarinen, age 17
Francis Parker School, San Diego, CA

Last year, 56% of seniors reported feeling isolated, more than double the percentage in 2018. The increase of digital socialization has led to added stress and frustration for seniors, causing less interaction. Isolated seniors face a greater than 50% risk for dementia, 32% risk of stroke, and 57% increase in emergency visits, according to the CDC. Founding a nonprofit that guides seniors with tech support helped us become familiar with the problems seniors face with current teleconferencing platforms. In our design of SimpliCall, we removed the barriers keeping seniors from using video conferencing platforms. We replaced difficult setups and complicated calling systems with easy-to-understand, single-tap solutions. SimpliCall’s easy setup allows seniors to set up accounts with just a phone number and name. The automatic contact import helps seniors quickly and easily find their friends without additional setup. Our one-tap video call system helps make video conferencing as easy as regular calls, helping to make face-to-face interactions more accessible.