Wearable technology invention has UOIT grad student in running for $100,000 entrepreneurship prize

UOIT Master of Science (Computer Science) student Brodie Stanfield is one step closer to a $100,000 prize for his invention in wearable technology.

Stanfield, the president of Blackstock, Ontario-based Inventing Future Technology Inc. (IFTech), is a graduate of the Game Development and Entrepreneurship program in UOIT’s Faculty of Business and Information Technology. IFTech’s bold new piece of gaming hardware, ARAIG (As Real As It Gets) has made it to the final five in the N100 entrepreneurship competition, which offers a $100,000 equity investment from the Northumberland Community Futures Development Corporation.

ARAIG is a suit that stimulates the senses, enabling players to feel as if they are actually inside the game. The technology has recently made headlines in popular gaming news sources such as PC Gamer, Kotaku and Escapist Magazine, as well as in the local media. Stanfield hopes to commercialize the concept, and is prepared to do so in Northumberland County.

Thirty-four competitors initially sought the prize in the N100, which was launched in January 2013 in partnership with Spark Centre, one of 14 not-for-profit regional innovation centres in the province that help start and grow innovative, technology-based companies. Of the five remaining contestants, one will be selected to enter into private equity negotiations.

The final five have now submitted their business plans and IFTech has launched its Kickstarter campaign for ARAIG, which aims to raise $900,000 in pledges by June 30. If IFTech meets this goal, the first suits could begin shipping in December 2014.

Visit ARAIG’s Facebook page to learn more about the technology.