An e-health solution by University of Malta students will represent Malta in Microsoft’s Imagine Cup competition to be held in Russia in two weeks’ time, after winning the local competition.
Named PhAid, the solution is finalist in the World Citizenship Competition and is the latest contribution by young Maltese software developers to this annual international competition.
PhAid helps people with chronic back pain using Microsoft’s Kinect, the add-on to the Xbox gaming console that responds to the human body’s movement rather to a handheld controller.
The team members are Darryl Gouder, Justine Scicluna, Alan Grixti and Jennifer Bellizzi and coming up with the solution was much more than simply putting software development to good use.
“First and foremost we learnt how to work in a group dynamic with a set amount of deadlines, simulating the workplace environment which is not easy to simulate in academia,” a spokesman for the team told i-Tech. “In addition to this we were exposed to the business-side of software development which helped us when taking informed design and technical decisions. Last but not least, we learnt a lot about the world of physiotherapy and our empathy with the patients drove us to make a great product.”
Using the Microsoft Kinect, a patient’s exercises are recorded, under the physiotherapist’s supervision, and these exercises are stored on the ‘cloud’ and kept available to that particular patient through his Microsoft Windows Live ID. While the patient is performing the exercises from the comfort of home, visual real-time feedback is available to both the patient and physiotherapist.
“Before moving into the market, PhAid is a medical tool and thus requires strenuous testing with regards to any negative effects it might have. Having said that, we believe (and this is a claim that has been reinforced by our consultant physiotherapist), that PhAid will enhance the concept of telemedicine, helping physiotherapists deal with patients who are less mobile and to further assist the patients who find commuting and exercise recollection difficult,” added the team member.
The university students feel things have changed for the better in terms of support for the nascent software industry in Malta.
“We think that although in the past support has been lacking, there has been an increase of support with competitions for local start-ups on the rise and with the opening of the Microsoft Innovation Center. That being said, more can always be done to encourage people to come up with ideas and help them reach their goals with regards to that idea.”
While thanking their mentor Mark Micallef, Microsoft Malta, their families and friends for their support, the team has a positive message to pass on to their peers: “We think that this is an amazing opportunity, for students such as ourselves, and highly encourage any interested students to take part.”
The first runners-up to this year’s local competition of the Imagine Cup were the B-Team from the Malta College of Arts, Science & Technology who created a game that focuses on using imagination and thought combined to solve a query. The player is faced with different forms of puzzles, such as mazes or platforms in which he/she will acquire and/or use an orb, which will endow them with a variety of abilities to help solve the puzzles.
The second runners-up where Team Binio who created Recuerdo, a solution to make life easier for people suffering from dementia and their carers. Recuerdo is a Windows Phone-based application, which asks people with dementia questions throughout the day, in a way that keeps them constantly alert. This process has been proven to help improve the memory of people suffering from dementia.
More than 1.65 million students from more than 190 countries have participated in the Imagine Cup since its launch 10 years ago. Teams from 87 countries are taking part this year.