SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – February 29, 2024 – Samsung Electronics Singapore today announced that Team Blahaj from NUS High School of Mathematics and Science is the overall winner of the seventh edition of the Solve for Tomorrow competition in Singapore. Launching in August 2023, this program is designed to encourage high school students to think deeply about social issues affecting their community and to pioneer positive social change through technology and innovation.
Team Blahaj, comprised of students Wang Zerui, Vincent Kwok, Christian Tan and David Chik, will walk away with a total of $10,000 worth of Samsung products and a cash prize of $6,000. The NUS High School of Mathematics and Science will also receive a Samsung interactive digital whiteboard – the Flip Pro 55”.
The Blahaj team is testing its prototype, which allows visually impaired people to better understand and navigate their environment.
Aiming to revolutionize the sensory experiences of visually impaired people, the Blahaj team proposed a two-part solution that leverages advanced technologies such as AI to provide visually impaired people with detailed understanding of the environment through auditory cues and tactile.
- Software solution: LiDAR and Object Detection – Using LiDAR and AI-based object detection in smartphones, the solution can create an “obstacle map” with tactile representation and multi-sensory instructions. This allows users to navigate their environment seamlessly.
- Hardware solution: Real-Time Touch Interface – This interface translates visual data captured by the device into tactile feedback, allowing users to “read” their environment through touch.
Up to 1.1 billion people are estimated to suffer from visual impairment in 2020, and this figure is expected to increase by up to 55% over the next 30 years, according to a study.
report by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). The solution aims to transform the reality of visually impaired people and improve their overall quality of life by strengthening their ability to navigate their world independently and safely.
Sharing the inspiration behind their solution, Wang Zerui, Team Lead of Blahaj, said: “Our inspiration comes from the desire to help improve the quality of life of visually impaired people and even the elderly in our community, including our own grandparents who are grappling with a vision. By leveraging modern technologies like AI, we hope to meet the needs of these people and help forge a more inclusive society for all.
“The ingenuity we see in this year’s Solve for Tomorrow competition reflects the limitless potential of our young people. Their dedication to tackling real-world challenges is inspiring and Samsung is proud to support their efforts. We will continue to nourish the passion and creativity of our young people. and provide them with the opportunity to turn their ideas into reality,” said Dennis Jang, President of Samsung Electronics Singapore.
Dennis was one of three judges who evaluated student entries during the final stage of the competition. The other judges were Mock Yi Jun, co-founder and chairman of Advisory Singapore, and Kelvin Leung, vice chairman of Openspace Ventures.
Driving positive social and environmental change with technology and passion
Other entries that stood out in this competition include the deep water culture-based hydroponic system from the Glacial Planters team from Pei Hwa Secondary School and ElderGuard Innovations, a smart fall detection technology from the Senior Safety Solutions team at the Singapore School of Science and Technology. . Team Glacial Planters and Team Senior Safety Solutions won 2nd and 3rd prizes respectively.
The Glacier Planters and Senior Safety Solutions teams impressed the judges with their inventiveness, exceptional application of technology, and the potential of their solutions to bring positive change to our community and environment.
Youth Teamwork from Pei Hwa Secondary School, with its Web Work For Youths idea aimed at improving the financial situation of low-income families, also won the People’s Choice Award.
“These high school teams really exceeded my expectations. Despite their youth, they demonstrated exceptional maturity, awareness and critical thinking to identify and address the various issues facing our community. Their remarkable solutions highlight the influential role of youth and technology in driving positive societal change. Congratulations to all the winning teams for their exceptional ideas,” said Kelvin Leung, Vice President of Openspace Ventures.
Preparing the next generations for the future digital economy
The World Economic Forum recently reported that 1.1 billion jobs are likely to be radically transformed by technology over the next decade.[1]. It is crucial to prepare younger generations for the future by ensuring they stay current with relevant technical skills and competencies from a young age.
“Our Solve for Tomorrow journey has been exciting and rewarding, giving us the chance to tackle real-world problems and bring our ideas to life. The hands-on experience not only offered us insight into what our future careers in IT and software development may entail, but it also allowed us to hone our problem-solving skills, foster work teamwork and apply our knowledge in a practical way. Zerui pointed out.
“Technology is changing the way we live, work and play. Platforms like Solve for Tomorrow give students the tools and opportunity to imagine solutions to the problems they see around them and help them realize that “They are never too young to innovate. The future. Tomorrow’s digital economy will be designed by today’s young people, and we need to equip them early with the skills and confidence they need to create a more sustainable and inclusive society for generations to come,” said Mock Yi Jun, Co-Founder and Chairman of Advisory Singapore.
For more information about Solve for Tomorrow and judge profiles, please visit the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow website:
https://www.samsung.com/sg/solvefortomorrow/.
More details on the competition can be found in Appendix A.
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Annex A
About Samsung Solve for Tomorrow
The Solve for Tomorrow 2023 competition, launched on 23 August 2023, encourages students in Singapore to take a closer look at the social issues around them and think about how they can make a meaningful impact on the community. At its launch, more than 80 students, forming more than 30 groups of two to four, submitted a text of their ideas or solutions.
The platform also allows young people to express their creativity and passion while encouraging them to apply their knowledge and skills across multiple disciplines – including critical and design thinking, marketing and communications skills, technological expertise and STEM knowledge – when developing their ideas and solutions.
Competition Overview
All students aged 12 and above and who are full-time students in Secondary 1 to 5 in Singapore are eligible to participate in the competition. For secondary school students offering a 6-year integrated program (IP), only full-time students from Secondary 1 to Secondary 4 are eligible to participate. You can find the full list of eligible schools
here.
A total of 10 teams were selected as finalists in December 2023. A virtual workshop on design thinking was organized for all finalist teams.
The public was also able to vote for their favorite idea on the Solve for Tomorrow website. The finalist team with the most votes won the public prizes.
Judging criteria for finalists
- 30%: Feasibility – Elaboration of how the solution can be created and implemented.
- 20%: Creativity – Innovative character, uniqueness and originality of the proposed idea.
- 25%: Technology – Elaboration on the use of technology involved and how it is used to solve the problem.
- 20%: Video – Video flow and effectiveness.
- 5%: public vote – The finalists’ ideas have been posted online and the public can vote for their favorite idea.
Price
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Jackpot – Samsung products worth $10,000, cash prize of $6,000 and Samsung interactive digital whiteboard – the Flip Pro 55” worth S$4,806 – for school
- Second prize – Samsung products worth S$7,000 and cash prize of $4,000
- Third prize – Samsung products worth S$5,000 and cash prize of $2,000
- Audience Award: Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
