Grand Prize (400 teams) · UC Berkeley AI Hackathon · Jun 2026

A plush cat paired with a wristband that can feel a panic attack building in the wearer's hand movements. Before the attack peaks, the cat comes to life to interrupt it and help the person calm back down.

Why it won: One of the builders spent three years as a mental-health clinician sitting with people mid-panic, and built the thing they always wished they could hand to a patient. About 40 million American adults live with an anxiety disorder, and roughly 1 in 11 people has a panic attack each year. The insight is timing: the wristband catches the attack while it is still building, when calming down is still possible.