{"id":113112,"date":"2020-05-19T20:44:54","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T20:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/?p=437712"},"modified":"2020-05-19T20:44:54","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T20:44:54","slug":"meet-the-2020-imagine-cup-world-champion-team-hollo-from-the-university-of-hong-kong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2020\/05\/19\/meet-the-2020-imagine-cup-world-champion-team-hollo-from-the-university-of-hong-kong\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the 2020 Imagine Cup world champion: Team Hollo from the University of Hong Kong"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 18<\/span>th<\/span> annual Imagine Cup saw thousands of students across the world submitting innovations to impact their communities, both locally and globally. The competition advanced through hackathons, Online Semifinals, and virtual Regional Final events bringing together finalists via Microsoft Teams.<\/span> <\/span>Six team<\/span>s<\/span> <\/span><\/a>were selected to move forward to the World Championship and present their projects to compete for the 2020 trophy on the biggest stage yet\u2014the <\/span>Microsoft Build digital event<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Congratulations to Team Hollo from<\/span><\/strong> the University of Hong Kong<\/span><\/strong> <\/span>who won <\/span>the grand prize<\/span> for their mental health companion web app leveraging Azure analytics and AI services to advance youth therapy practices. The team <\/span>won USD100,000, a mentoring session with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and USD50,000 in Azure grants.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine Cup aims to empower students to use their imagination and passion for technology to develop innovative and inclusive solutions that tackle key societal issues. With an increasing focus on bringing the world together digitally, <\/span>w<\/span>e’re<\/span> continuously encouraged by the projects young developers create to make a difference.<\/span> This year\u2019s finalist solutions covered issues in healthcare, agriculture, misinformation detection, and more.  <\/span>Because <\/span>of global health concerns due to COVID-19, we decided to move this year\u2019s competition to a virtual format, and World Finalists pitched their projects during Microsoft Build\u2019s inaugural digital <\/span>event<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

The 2020 World Championship was judged by innovation experts spanning a variety of technology, diversity, and social change-centered experiences that align to the core of Imagine Cup\u2019s mission.  Across her extensive career as a tech innovator and leader <\/span>Dwana<\/span> Franklin-Davis, CEO of Reboot Representation, has worked to empower underrepresented groups in technology. <\/span>The <\/span>CyberCode<\/span> Twins, <\/span>America<\/span> and Penelope Lopez, are young innovators who\u2019ve participated in tech competitions across the world and hope to introduce other students to opportunities in the field. Finally, Microsoft president, Brad Smith, leads work on a wide range of issues involving the intersection of technology and society, including ethics and AI, human rights, and environmental sustainability.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Kicking off the World Championship with a short pitch of their projects in <\/span>the lightning round<\/span>, judges selected Team Hollo, along with Team Syrinx from Japan and Team Tremor Vision from the United States, to advance to the second and final round of the competition. Each of the top three teams then gave an in-depth presentation their solutions, which were assessed for their diversity, originality, and innovative design. <\/span>Watch the show<\/span><\/a> to experience the moment when Team Hollo is crowned champion!<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Meet the top <\/span><\/span>3 World Championship teams<\/span><\/span>:<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Screenshots_Hollo<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2020 Imagine Cup World Champion \u2013 Team Hollo, Hong Kong SAR <\/span><\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

After meeting<\/span> in school, the team <\/span>brought <\/span>a collaborative<\/span> desire for social change focus<\/span>ing<\/span> on young people and inequalit<\/span>y to their project,<\/span> <\/span>combined with a<\/span> passion for <\/span>tech<\/span>.<\/span> Team Hollo noticed that mental health aid was not effectively reaching the younger generations in their communities and <\/span>envision a future of tech-based, accessible, and comprehensive mental health management tools<\/span>. <\/span>Team member Cameron van Breda said, <\/span>\u201cThe experience of mental health is felt by everyone\u2026 being able to win Imagine Cup and support the awareness of mental health and be able to work on it with technology is something that\u2019s really needed in the world.\u201d <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

As a smart AI-powered preventative platform, the app aims to improve individual mental health by integrating Machine Learning with suggestive diagnosis, therapy, and continual monitoring, in order to facilitate self-help and professional therapeutic services. <\/span>With an interactive mobile app for users and a comprehensive case management dashboard for therapists & NGOs,<\/span> Hollo<\/span> <\/span>presents a collaborative and scalable mental health platform which aims <\/span>to cut the heavy cost of mental health care for youth<\/span> and make support more accessible. Team member Piyush Jha noted, \u201cThe<\/span> accessibility part of this application makes it really welcoming for anyone and everyone, anywhere in the world, to make sure they\u2019re doing well.\u201d  <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

When <\/span>asked about <\/span>future plans<\/span>,<\/span> <\/span>Hollo<\/span> responded, \u201cW<\/span>e\u2019re going to be able to implement a lot of current research\u2026 and really be able to create a collaborative effort in the mental health space<\/span>. W<\/span>e<\/span> feel like that\u2019s really important, getting this global perspective.\u201d <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Syrinx3_alt.png\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Runner-up \u2013 Syrinx, Japan<\/span><\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

Syrinx, a neck wearable EL (electrolarynx) device, restores the ability to speak for people who have lost their voices. <\/span>Around the globe, over 300 thousand people lose the ability to speak each year. However, traditional electrolarynx devices to restore <\/span>speaking capabilities <\/span>can <\/span>only produce a monotonic robot-like voice and requir<\/span>e<\/span> the use of one hand to talk. This can cause social and communication issues<\/span> for the user<\/span>, which the team hopes to solve.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Leveraging Azure Notebooks technology, Syrinx\u2019s device vibrates the user’s throat to create <\/span>a<\/span> sound that matches the movement of the<\/span>ir <\/span>mouth, then uses neural networks to learn the<\/span> characteristics of the<\/span> lost voice <\/span>in order to<\/span> <\/span>restore it. This allows Syrinx to produce a more natural<\/span> sounding<\/span> human voice through their device, including both male and female voice patterns. <\/span>\u201cNext step is to increase users for the beta test to try out this device. I\u2019d like to improve the function of our device for a more human-like voice,\u201d <\/span>commented <\/span>team member <\/span>Masaki Takeuchi. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Syrinx will be a device for not only laryngectomy or tracheostomy patients, but also people all over the world.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\"TremorVision3_alt.png\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Runner-up \u2013 Tremor Vision, United States<\/span><\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

Tremor Vision is a web-based tool that enables physicians to detect early-onset Parkinson\u2019s and quantitatively track patient progress throughout a prescribed treatment plan. Although Parkinson\u2019s is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder, there is currently no standardized way of evaluating<\/span> the spiral test<\/span>, one of the most <\/span>widely<\/span> conducted <\/span>examinations<\/span> to detect early-onset <\/span>of the<\/span> <\/span>disease <\/span>and track its progression.<\/span> Team member Robert <\/span>Minneker<\/span> commented, <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Th<\/span>e<\/span> why and how is really important when bringing technology to life. Getting it to the people that need <\/span>it and<\/span> being able to communicate why it matters is huge<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

By using a touchscreen device connected to the internet, users of Tremor Vision\u2019s tool<\/span> can<\/span> send clinical results to their physician. The platform empowers patients to save the time and money required by routine clinical visits and increases a physician\u2019s reach in screening for early signs of Parkinson\u2019s. The team uses Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services, MATLAB, and Microsoft Visual Studio.<\/span>  <\/span>\u201cWe put 100% of our effort into making something really cool\u201d, shared team member Janae Chan. \u201cWe started in a place where we weren\u2019t really sure if we should<\/span> or<\/span> if this idea is worthwhile to present<\/span>. <\/span>I think any idea is worthwhile as long as you believe in it and you\u2019re giving back to the people that you\u2019re trying to help.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

————–<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Registration for the 2021 competition is now open. Join over two million student competitors worldwide in making an impact in what you\u2019re most passionate about and\u202f<\/span>sign up<\/span><\/a>\u202ffor Imagine Cup today!<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 18th annual Imagine Cup saw thousands of students across the world submitting innovations to impact their communities, both locally and globally. The competition advanced through hackathons, Online Semifinals, and virtual Regional Final events bringing together finalists via Microsoft Teams. Six teams were selected to move forward to the World Championship and present their projects to compete for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[59,50],"class_list":["post-113112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-imagine-cup","tag-recent-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}