[YouTube]
Ali Taqi, a student at AUK emailed to tell me about their performance in the Microsoft Imagine Cup that was recently held in our region. The Imagine Cup is a student technology competition where the aim is to create technology that will help solve the worlds toughest problems. The AUK students came first in Kuwait and second in the GCC and have now qualified to the next level which is to compete on an international level in New York. Their idea is very simple and according to them was inspired from the blog.
The students saw how when I took a picture of a problem and posted it on the blog the proper authorities would find out about the problem and get it fixed. So the students came up with the idea of creating a software which would be set up with a variety of different authorities (emergency services, garbage collection, health ministry etc..). They then would create a phone application for people so that when they find a problem, they can just snap a picture of it and then have the application send it to the proper authorities along with a geotag so that the location of the problem can be located quickly. They’ve called their idea the Revolutionary Reporting System or RRS for short.
In the video above for example they’re showing you how this software can be used to report an accident. Usually you would waste time trying to get a hold of the emergency call center and then trying to tell them what the problem is and where the problem happened. With this software they created things would be a lot easier.
I wish the guys involved in this project the best of luck (Ali Taqi, Bader Al Mohammed Ali, and Eissa Al Qadeeri). It’s a great idea and I for one would use it all the time. I do think they need to work a bit more on the video presentation before the New York event so maybe a local film maker can volunteer to help them out with this.
You can read more on this project by visiting the AUK website [Here]
34 replies on “Team from Kuwait came 2nd in the GCC Microsoft Imagine Cup”
its a Very Good Idea.
Directlie giving the location with picture.
and every 3rd people have GPS Mobile with internet
It’s not really a new idea, there are a couple of cities in the US and Europe where this has already been implemented. But it’s always great to things like these in this region.
Also, there are 6 countries in the GCC, so that title really doesn’t say much.
I don’t think it means there were only 5 other groups of students.
haters gna hate
lol
Kudos to the Kuwaiti Team…
BUT, the title makes it sound like you came 2nd in a competition with alot of people 🙂 You beat 4 other countries guys 🙂
I hope you will continue and aspire to bigger accomplishments.
it wasn’t just 5 people competing in this. They were competing against students from all over the GCC, they ranked 2nd over everyone.
Something along the lines of “AUK team rank second in GCC” would better justify their achievement then.
Both work but I prefer having it the way it is now since the students put Kuwait on the map. Will add Team after Kuwait though.
True that. Much clearer now, nice!
D!!!!!
An inside joke, between the team and I, good luck you fools 😛
This was created in South East Asia under Microsoft UPG, true this is a first for the Gulf but the idea is not ground breaking, hence second place!
Idea is great, but the time comparison is way off. 9 seconds to:
– log into the app
– take a picture
– select appropriate category
– upload a decent resolution image using existing technology (3G).
Not possible.
It could be auto login, so that will take around 2 seconds including launching of the app plus the app doesnt need to send a 5MP photo you could send a compressed 1MP photo so thats a few more seconds saved.
You could also argue the fact it would take longer than 62 seconds to make a phone call, maybe line was busy or no one picks up or someone picks up that doesn’t speak english and then line got cut off etc.. etc..
I did not comment on the 62 seconds at all. Just the fact that uploading a “decent resolution” image would take longer.
Look at the video again. The 9 seconds timed is only to take out the camera and snap the picture.
No selecting category, no waiting for picture to upload.
dude chill out, lets say it takes 10 seconds or 15, it’s a student project not a Myth Busters experiment. I’m sure they will work out all the kinks for the NY competition
Actually, I am surprised that you are getting upset over highlighting something that can actually improve their work.
It’s more like you’re upset because they said 9 seconds instead of 10
Cajie has a point here, it takes more than 15 secs to open the App, login, take a photo, choose a category and upload photo.
The Idea is great but they should work on the application and UX. I mean why there’s a login window at the first place?
my guess is to stop pranks? I guess you wouldn’t need a log in screen if there was a way for your mobile number to be automatically attached to the message
Thank you Hamzawy. The UX can always be improved upon, if the app actually becomes a reality – but it is the concept that is more important.
Gotta love the Ace Attorney music in the background.
The question how many years does it take the authorities to respond!
Wish you the best of luck.
I participated in that same competition twice. We also made it to the world finals 2 years ago. It’s sad how no one values these competition in Kuwait while other countries invest so much.
To clarify them being 2nd out of 6 countries, there can be multiple teams from each country, so congrats to them.
Hello everyone.
I would like to comment to clarify some points mentioned here:
The 62 seconds timer started while assuming the number pad is already open. Similarly, the application timer started assuming they were at login screen. The images that are taken are indeed 5MP, but the sent image is only 70KB through conversion. We believe a very high resolution image is not required to report a problem. A 70KB image through several tests averaged to take 2 seconds to send to the database using Zain’s internet connection.
The login is indeed one of the methods we used to stop pranks or false reports. The mobile number would be associated with the username, but the reason we used a username to provide the users with an alias since their score will appear on a scoreboard.
If one believes that the timer is not accurate, let’s jump it. Let’s make it 30 seconds to report a problem, that’s still half the speed it takes to report a problem using the current system. Also, the report using the current system was taken assuming the person reporting knows exactly where they are, what the problem is and the details of it.
As for the amount of people we were competing against, the GCC in its first round received 2000 students, with an average of 2 members per team. That means 1000 teams submitted, out of those only 10 projects were selected. In the competition, there were 30 students: 4 teams from Kuwait, 4 from Oman and 2 from UAE.
If anyone has questions or suggestions, please mention them here and I will try to reply to them ASAP. Thank you all.
So who was first?
My question is, what’s the purpose of the points system??
So the more accidents you report, the less points you end up with? What’s the purpose of penalizing someone who reported an accident by deducting points off them..??
The purpose of the points system is to motivate people to report. Every report a user makes, he/she gets a certain number of points and those points can be be redeemed to get rewards. When the points were being deducted in the video, it shows that the user has redeemed a reward.
Hope that answered your question 🙂
Yes, it did, thank you…
=)
Frankly, i think it’s easier that all users start at 0 points, and the more you report, the more points you make, the more you get rewarded…
But yes, same difference either way.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other…!
Many of the accidents here are due to reckless driving so I wouldn’t even bother reporting it.
Whether its a new idea or not, its a good job done 🙂 .. I wish these guys all the best ..
They can be an inspiration to students in Kuwait!
i really like the idea!! the thing thats really cool is that the phone being used is an android based phone so the app will be for iphone!
i like the idea but to be honest i dont think everyone would understand how to use it, especially the less educated people / old people. y not just make an application where u can press a number (each number for a different problem, accident, etc.) and send it and they can find ur location and assist you immediately. i think that would even be faster and easier. goodluck =)
meh