A digital necklace that can store two years of immunization records and a SoaPen that encourages children to wash their hands have been awarded by the UNICEF as winners of the new "Wearables for Good" challenge in cooperation with ARM and frog.

The competition, which attracted 2000 registrants from 65 countries, aims to transform wearable technology from "nice-to-have devices to life-saving products."

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The two winning pieces were Khushi Baby and SoaPen; both were from joint Indian-US teams. They received a prize of $15,000 as well as "incubation and mentoring from the partners."

"Unicef scans the near-future horizon focusing on areas undergoing rapid changes that could have a significant impact on children," said co-lead and founder of UNICEF innovation Erica Kochi.

Khushi Baby, which used to be a traditional kaala dhaago black thread worn to protect Indian children from the evil eye, is now a data-storing necklace capable of saving up to  two years of personal immunization record. It utilizes near field communication technology to enable health workers scan, read and update records without the central database. It can latter be synced to cloud and appear in dashboards for health officials to retrieve and review.

"Khushi Baby wants to ensure that all infants have access to informed and timely health care by owning a copy of their medical history," Kushi Baby co-founder Ruchit Nagar said. The "system enables access to culturally appropriate wearable digital medical records, even in the most remote and isolated areas."

Meanwhile, the second winner SoaPen is a crayon-like soap designed to entice children between three and six years old to wash their hands.

The soap crayon can be worn around the neck or wrist by parents or teachers and can be ulitlized to draw or write on kid's skin and make handwashing a fun activity.

"We believe that a serious problem can be solved through a simple and fun solution," said Shubham Isaar, SoaPen creator. "Our focus is to reduce infant mortality rates and the spread of diseases by promoting the habit of handwashing with soap among children."

Delighted with the outpouring response, ARM CEO Simon Segars said "The power to influence lives through great design is now in the hands of anyone with a conscience and the will to help others. By using readily available technologies, all of the finalists showed us how incredibly simple ideas can have the potential to be transformative."

"We are extremely pleased with the dialogue that has resulted from this effort, and truly humbled and impressed by the solutions generated by the winners," said frog's executive director Denise Gershbein. "We look forward to seeing real impact in the world from these ideas."

TagsUNICEF, Arm, frog, Wearables for Good, children health, Khushi Baby, SoaPen, handwashing, technology challenge, inventions, education, health and fitness, social good, technology, unicef wearables for good challenge