| Windows CE student competition names finalists |
Jun. 27, 2007
 Microsoft has announced 15 finalists in its annual Windows Embedded student competition, now integrated into a broader event known as the Imagine Cup. Out of these 15, the top three teams will take home a total of $15,000 in cash prizes.
The finalists, named on the Imagine Cup's website, appear to have been selected from among a field of 195 entries. All of the finalists are expected to travel to Seoul, South Korea to participate in the finals from August 5-11, 2007.
Ebox 2300
(Click to enlarge) | |
This year's Imagine Cup theme is "Imagine a world where technology enables a better education for all."
Teams were provided with an eBox 2300 (depicted at left), the competition's standard hardware platform, and Windows CE 6.0. The Ebox is essentially a compact, minimally configured "embedded PC" that provides the embedded computing platform on which Windows CE and the project's application software runs. In the project descriptions below, the term "PC" generally refers to the Ebox.
And the finalists are... (click each thumbnail to view a large image) Team "Acumen" from MVSR Engineering College in Hdyerabad, India has a project called Panacea, designed to help the blind visualize images. These are stored on a PC connected to a tactile pad, which uses 32 x 32 electromagnetic elements to create outlines.
 Team "Aero@Put" from the Poznan University of Technology in Poland has a project called enlEYEght, designed to enable early diagnosis of dyslexia. An infrared, Bluetooth-connected sensor measures subjects' eye movements while they interact with text displayed on a Pocket PC. Data is then transmitted to a PC and sent over the Internet for expert analysis.
 Team "Aether" from the University of Iasi in Romania has a project called the Networked Braille Learning Environment, designed to make learning Braille simpler and cheaper. A single-character tactile device is attached to a student's finger, then connected to a PC either wirelessly or remotely. As characters are formed, the student also receives audio feedback.
 Team "BJTU" from Beijing Jiaotong University in China has a project called Innobeyond, designed to provide security via low-cost palmprint identification. Off-the-shelf Webcams and RF card readers are connected to host PCs. Users swipe their ID cards and place their palms over the camera, after which data is sent to a central server for identity verification.
 Team "DCEites" from the Delhi College of Engineering has a project called Indriyaan, designed to read eBooks to the blind via voice synthesis while simultaneously forming braille characters. The system can be controlled via voice command, or remotely via an integral AM receiver.
 Team "Dimensions" from DA-IICT in Gandhinagar, India has a project called Vibhava, designed to let mute individuals communicate without lip-reading or sign language. The system replaces a standard keyboard with a special glove, measuring the resistance created when users touch their thumbs to various points on each finger. A connected PC maps these touch points to standard characters -- the default mimics a cell phone keypad -- and provides synthesized voice output.
- Team "iDoll" from the University of British Columbia in Canada has a project called A Portable and Scalable Manikin System, intended to lower the cost of CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training. This replaces high-cost instrumented manikins with simple manikins an organization already owns. They are retrofitted with equipment such as airflow and pressure sensors, then connected wirelessly to a central PC and an instructor's PDA.
 Team "Learn Smart" from the University of Sao Paulo State in Brazil has a project called Pangea, designed to connect language students worldwide. The "Pangea Portal" system lets a user specify what languages they speak and what languages they wish to practice. When an appropriate study partner is found, users can communicate over the Internet via voice and text messaging.
 Team "MIC" from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China has a project called the E-sport Teaching Expert, intended to help athletes train. The system includes wireless heart rate and blood oxygen monitors, which communicate in real-time to a PDA held by a coach. A host PC can also store data for later expert analysis.
 Team "PurpleElf" from the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications in China has a project called Magnificence of C Major, designed to help beginning piano students. The system can accept any piece of printed piano music, scan it, and convert it into a MIDI file. The system "listens" via a microphone as a student plays on any standard piano, then compares the audio input to the stored data. Students can be given feedback onscreen in real time, or after a performance.
 Team "Seed" from the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications in China has a project called CasBam, designed to help children with DSI (Dysfunction of Sensory Information). The system automates some of the physical therapy required, using equipment such as a rotating chair, a pressure sensor, and 3-D glasses. Each child's progress is tracked using RFID, via a tag worn inside a Mickey Mouse watch.
 Team "Tabla" from Wuhan University in China has a project called the Smart Library System, intended to track the position of any book in a library. A PC is installed in each shelving unit, and a stepper motor regularly moves an RFID reader along each shelf within it. An online catalog tells users whether a book is on the shelf and can lead them to it via a 3-D map.
 Team "TechOwls" from the Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania has a project called S.M.A.R.T., a System for Monitoring exams, Automatic evaluation, handwriting Recognition and information Transfer. This relies on electronic pens, which allow students to write normally on paper but are connected to a central PC via Bluetooth. Pen input is converted to text via character recognition, and can be monitored by an instructor in near-real time. Instructors can review the quality of students' class notes or store exam results securely.
 Team "Trivent Dreams" from the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil has a project called e-du box, designed to be a low-cost device for education and entertainment. The e-du box is designed to be connected to an ordinary TV set. Its user interface uses a virtual notebook metaphor, while the primary input device is a vibrating pen. Teachers can use Bluetooth to monitor multiple e-du boxes from a Windows Vista sidebar gadget.
 Team "UNESP" from the Universidade Estadual Paulista in Brazil has a project called SmartBox, a small computer that can be used in a classroom by attaching it to a standard television or multimedia projector. A custom user interface allows the teacher to use the SmartBox entirely via a remote control. Features include file access over SMB shares, connection to other PCs using a Remote Desktop client, and more, all transparent to the user.
Be sure to watch these pages for news of the prize winners following completion of the August 5-11 competition in Seoul.
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