A two person student team from Australia who created a Windows Phone app called Eyenaemia was named as the overall global winner in Microsoft's 2014 Imagine Cup technology competition on Friday.
Medical students Jennifer Tang and Jarrel Seah created the app (not yet released to the public) which is designed to diagnose anemia in patients. In order for the app to work, a "selfie" photo of a person holding a small card filled with colored squares placed next to their eye is taken. The app then takes over as it looks over the image. The team says, "Eyenaemia analyses the conjunctiva and calculates the risk of anaemia, putting years of medical training into the hands of untrained users."
Tang and Seah will receive $50,000 for winning the World Citizenship category in the Imagine Cup world finals, but because the team won the overall competition, they will get something extra: a sit down meeting with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Two other teams won $50,000 each by winning the other two main Imagine Cup categories. Brainy Studio from Russia won the Games category with TurnOn, a 2.5D side scroller centering on a sentient electrical spark who aims to provide electricity to the city. A New Zealand team won the Innovate category with their work on an app called Estimeet, which tells users not only where their friends are currently located online but how long it will take for them to arrive for a meeting.
Microsoft is already making plans for the 2015 Imagine Cup competition, and the world finals will once again take place in the company's home region of Seattle, Washington.
Source: Microsoft
