A solution that helps people with chronic back pain using Microsoft’s Kinect was the winning project at this year’s edition of The Imagine Cup, a competition hosted by Microsoft Malta for students.

The winning team – PhAid – made up of four University students, will be travelling to St Petersburg, Russia, between July 8 and 11 to compete in the finals.

As in previous years, this competition has enticed a considerable number of students from Mcast and the University to submit innovative projects or technology that could help solve global but everyday common problems. This year’s categories were games, innovation and world citizenship.

Presenting their winning project at Microsoft Malta’s Innovation Centre, the team members explained how their solution utilised Kinect to help people with physiotherapy, allowing them to exercise at their own pace and inside the home.

The winners also explained how their project featured a system that tracked progress and provided a detailed report that could eventually be shared with their physiotherapist.

“It’s great that students challenge themselves and are rewarded for their efforts,” said country manager for Malta and Cyprus Adrianna Zammit.

“Today’s society is basing itself more on a culture built on technology and innovation, and it is always positive when youngsters explore their potential to develop technology applications that can create more wealth and wellbeing,” she added.

B-Team from Mcast, who created a game that focuses on using imagination and thought to solve a query, placed second.

Team Binio created Recuerdo – a solution that makes life easier for people suffering dementia and their carers. Recuerdo is a Windows phone-based application that asks people with dementia questions throughout the day, in a way that keeps them constantly alert, thus helping them to find it easier to remember things.

Over the past 10 years, more than 1.65 million students from over 190 countries have participated in the Imagine Cup.