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| Second place winners in the Imagine Cup contest. |
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NY Hosts Imagine Cup AT Finals
NY, NY -- At the Imagine Cup 2011 Worldwide Finals in mid-July, some of the brightest young minds from around the world presented innovative technology solutions that not only “use technology to solve the world’s toughest problems”—the theme for this year’s competition—but also promise to make life easier and more rewarding for people with disabilities.
Student teams focused on accessibility claimed two of the top three spots in the software design competition and nearly a quarter of the teams that made the finals in all categories—424 students from 70 countries—developed accessibility solutions. Half of those were for people with visual impairments.
· A new video from Microsoft chronicles the stories of two low-vision students: Jeremy, a student athlete; and David, an Imagine Cup competitor, who invented an assistive technology called Note-Taker, which is designed to help blind and low-vision students “see the board” and succeed in the classroom. David and his team won the Imagine Cup US Finals for Software Design and placed second in the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals for Software Design.
The documentary video illustrates the potential impact of Team Note-Taker’s project through the perspective of Jeremy Poincenot, who tried out the team’s assistive note-taking technology. Imagine Cup competitor David Hayden and his Note-Taker teammates are changing lives by imagining a world in which individuals with visual impairments have an even playing field with those who have 20/20 vision, thanks to technology. This video will give your readers the chance to see Note-Taker in action, and to learn how the work of these talented students can benefit millions of people worldwide.
· OaSys, an Imagine Cup team from Jordan, placed third in the Imagine Cup Worldwide Software Design competition with a technology solution that lowers the cost of enabling people with quadriplegia, or others who are unable to use their arms, to control their computers with head movements from the $500-$1,000 range to less than $100.
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