Student wins global award with keyboard for Parkinson’s patients

OnCue, a smart keyboard that helps people with Parkinson's disease type more easily and accurately, has won the global James Dyson Award 2025 in the health category. The award, and the accompanying prize money of €36,000, is presented annually to groundbreaking inventions made by students. OnCue was developed by Alessandra Galli during her studies at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology.

Typing assistance with vibrations and visual cues

Parkinson's is a condition that affects more than 10 million people worldwide, and this number is expected to rise to 25 million by 2050. In the Netherlands, around 67,000 people live with the disease. Typing on a regular keyboard is a challenge for many patients due to symptoms such as hand tremors, freezing, and delayed motor skills.

OnCue offers an innovative solution: the keyboard and accompanying wristbands provide subtle vibrations and visual cues that make typing easier and reduce errors. Thanks to AI, OnCue predicts the next letters and lights them up, so users hesitate less and can type faster. The split design, inspired by gaming keyboards, is compact, wireless, and fully customizable to the individual needs of the user.

From study project to functional solution

Alessandra developed OnCue while studying at Delft University of Technology, with a grant from ParkinsonNederland, and continued to work on it after graduating. "Through interviews with patients, I learned how better interaction with the keyboard can help them feel more independent and less frustrated. What I take for granted is a real obstacle for them. That contrast inspired me to continue after graduation, determined to make this project a reality. Winning the James Dyson Award is a great honor and confirmation for me that it was the right choice to continue with this project after graduating. The award helps bring OnCue one step closer to the people who need it," says Alessandra.

James Dyson, founder of Dyson, says: "For people living with Parkinson's, typing can be a frustrating experience. Alessandra has tackled this challenge by designing OnCue. When typing on the keyboard, gentle vibrations guide your rhythm, while AI predicts and illuminates your next letter. The keys have raised edges to help your fingers find the right keys and reduce typing errors. It's a smart and powerful solution that allows people with Parkinson's and other motor disorders to stay connected and communicate independently."

James Dyson surprised Alessandra with the news during an online video call. See how it went on YouTube.

After winning the James Dyson Award, she plans to collaborate with medical specialists and Parkinson's patients to further improve the product. She hopes to bring OnCue to market and expand its support so that people with other neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and dystonia can also use it.

Gert Pasman, lecturer at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology, says: "As someone who has had Parkinson's disease for more than ten years, I know from personal experience how frustrating and isolating it is to slowly lose the ability to type fluently and easily. OnCue offers real hope for change, thanks to Alessandra's excellent design and research skills, her empathy with the target group, and her strong motivation to do ‘good’. Winning this award will enable her to further develop this project, which is very good news for the entire Parkinson's community."

Sustainability winner: WaterSense

The international James Dyson Award is given to two projects each year: one in the field of health and one in the field of sustainability. This year's sustainability prize goes to WaterSense, an invention by Filip Budny from Poland. WaterSense is an autonomous AI-controlled device that measures water quality in real time and detects pollution at an early stage. The system is currently being tested at 20 locations in Poland and aims to monitor water quality better and faster worldwide.

The James Dyson Award celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and has now supported more than 400 student inventions with a total of £1.5 million in prize money. This year, more than 2,100 projects were submitted by young inventors from 28 countries and regions.