TLDR: Alessandra Galli’s ‘OnCue’ keyboard, designed to assist individuals with Parkinson’s disease through AI-powered predictive text and haptic feedback, has won the medical category of the 2025 James Dyson Award. This year marks the first time both global winning projects, including Filip Budny’s AI-powered ‘WaterSense’ buoy, integrate artificial intelligence.
The 2025 James Dyson Award has recognized groundbreaking innovations, with Alessandra Galli’s ‘OnCue’ keyboard taking the top prize in the medical category. Designed for individuals living with Parkinson’s disease, the OnCue keyboard aims to alleviate typing difficulties by integrating gaming-inspired ergonomics with advanced therapeutic cues. Galli, a product designer and graduate of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, will receive a prize of £30,000 to further develop her prototype.
OnCue addresses common Parkinson’s symptoms such as hand tremors, freezing, and delayed motor skills, which make typing on conventional keyboards a significant challenge. The innovative device incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) to function much like predictive text, anticipating and illuminating the letter a user is most likely to press next. This visual cue is complemented by haptic feedback: subtle vibrations transmitted through the keys and accompanying wristbands, designed to guide the user’s typing rhythm and compensate for reduced tactile sensitivity. The keyboard’s compact, split layout, inspired by gaming keyboards, is intended to reduce strain on the hands and arms, while raised edges on the keycaps provide improved tactile purchase. Users can customize the intensity of both haptic and visual cues through integrated sliders, allowing for personalized adjustments based on their varying symptoms.
This year’s James Dyson Award is notable as it marks the first time both global winning projects incorporate artificial intelligence for data analysis and prediction. Alongside OnCue, Filip Budny, an engineer from Poland, won the global sustainability prize for his ‘WaterSense’ buoy. WaterSense is an autonomous, AI-controlled device engineered for real-time water quality monitoring and early detection of pollution, capable of predicting contamination up to 72 hours in advance. The system is currently undergoing pilot operations in 20 locations across Poland.
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Alessandra Galli developed OnCue as her Master’s thesis project in 2024, collaborating with ParkinsonNL. Her design process involved extensive research, iterative prototyping, and testing with 10 Parkinson’s patients, whose feedback was crucial in shaping the final product. Parkinson’s disease affects over 10 million people globally, a number projected to increase to 25 million by 2050, underscoring the critical need for assistive technologies like OnCue to enhance independence and communication in an increasingly digital world. James Dyson praised OnCue as ‘a clever and empowering solution, allowing people with Parkinson’s and other motor conditions to stay connected and communicate independently.’
