Atlanta Hackathon recap: Medical solutions and IoT apps that can help visually impaired students

On November 12th and 13th we headed southeast to Atlanta, Georgia to challenge members of Girls Who Code, students, and developers to build Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile solutions applications. We had a great response with over 115 hackers attending to create 18 apps.

A special thanks goes out to our sponsors Intel and Nuance who provided developers with some awesome hardware and software to hack on. We’d also be remiss if we did not thank The Garage for hosting us in their amazing event space.

Our big winner was Patient Help, which is an app that utilizes Intel Edison and Nuance Mix to create a system to monitor a hospice patient’s care, providing both family members and nurses with updates as needed.

Another interesting app was TRUE SIGHT, a solution created to assist the blind with STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). The app is designed to assist blind students, who are not able to see the images and models used to explain certain concepts and terms. By using 3D models that the students can touch it creates a more inclusive experience. Additionally, the app allowed for voice-controlled editing of HTML and CSS code.

Now onto the winners:

• 1st Place Best App Overall – Patient Help
• Best Mechatronics Solution Overall – Doc Hack
• 1st Place Best Use of Nuance – MIXpedition
• 1st Place Best Use of Intel Technology – Doc Hack
• 1st Place Best App from a Women Led Team – True Sight
• (TIED) 1st Place Best App from a GWC/Student Team – What Can I Do For You
• (TIED) 1st Place Best App from a GWC/Student Team – Miracle MedTracker

Check below to find out about all the apps created at the hackathon:

Weigh My Scuttlebutt – “Most offices have a water cooler in their breakroom and Scuttlebutt refers to office gossip that takes place around a water cooler. Well what good is a water cooler for office gossip if it is always out of water? Weigh My Scuttlebutt is a way to simultaneously track water consumption and gossip.

The Weigh: We built a scale using load cells, Intel Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and a HX711 amp to measure the weight of a water cooler. Using Python, JavaScript, and Intel Arduino C we can send the collected data to the cloud and then display the information on a dashboard so that companies can track the remaining amount of water, when they are scheduled for delivery, or change the delivery date.

The Scuttlebutt: We used Nuance API’s to change the office water cooler from just a place of gossip to a place for fun and informative office information, too. Who has time to read all those corporate emails! Companies now have a way to send out important reminders in a more exciting way using the water cooler e.g. ‘Companywide Town Hall Thursday @1’ or ‘Five days remaining until the next production release.’ The possibilities are endless. It can also be anything from random humor ‘If Apple made a car would it have Windows?’ to random gossip such as, ‘Awkward: the moment you realize the co-worker you are gossiping about is right behind you.’ We are changing the face of the office water cooler and bringing it into the world of IoT.”

Zapark – “Smart Parking Solution that is based on real-time updates and user interactivity.”

Doorer: Intelligent Doorbell – “Doorer is a digital and hardware platform that can help you connect with the delivery man and get notified every time a package is delivered or if your attention is needed to take some actions like reschedule. We trained the system to detect two intents and transfer them into two different kinds of messages to the package owner: delivered or reschedule. We realized the design using the Intel Edison board with three different sensors: vibration, LED, and rotary angle sensors. Doorer can also record other people’s audio messages and send it to the user via SMS (even if they do not fall into the two intents) category by using the Nuance API Speech-to-Text technology.”

Amber’s Army – “We built a solution to effectively use technology and crowd-sourcing to help find missing people. Our system augments the Amber, Blue, and Silver alert systems to use mobile devices with cameras to perform license plate recognition and send matches to a reporting infrastructure.”

TalkPress – “A voice recognition website builder is used to build a website through Natural Language Processing. Our app is a next-generation website designing model. Currently, templating is a common and easy method for creating a website, our idea can take this current model to the next level. We are presenting a basic functionality of our app idea that can be extended as per the requirements and can be made as a huge product.”

TRUE SIGHT – “Blind students and children, especially those in STEM education, face challenges. Unlike other students, they are not able to see the images and models used to explain certain concepts and terms.

We created TRUE SIGHT, a non-profit community where designers can upload their creative models with annotations and descriptions. Blind students can download, print, and learn the models using speech input and output, as well as IoT technology. The main technology that we used are HTML/CSS/JavaScript, Node.js, MongoDB, Nuance, and Intel Edison Kit.”

MIXpedition – “MIXpedition is a hands-free wearable application that enables you to seamlessly explore your city without ever pulling out your phone. As you walk around a city, MIXpedition uses geofencing to determine when you are near a point of interest and notifies you on your smart watch. You can then choose to hear a brief audio tour or ask questions to help you make decisions about the location. Using the Natural Language Processing functionality of the Nuance Mix software, MIXpedition can help you choose landmarks based on types of places you are looking to explore as well as the cost of entry, distance, and the hours of operation.

Smart Car – “The team created a smart car solution based on Intel IoT sensors and Nuance ASR-NLU-TTS mix technology. The sensor data will be stored and can be transmitted via email during emergency. Using Nuance Voice Recognition that is installed in the car will help the user to be active on social media, create their to-do list, add reminders and calendar events.”

The Miracle Medtracker – “Complications arising from improper medicine usage can be disruptive and exhausting, often resulting in stress, additional health deterioration, and even death in many cases. Individuals who are taking multiple medications, children, elderly, or busy professionals may have trouble keeping track of their medication schedules and dosing. As a result, many people in our communities may live in a state of fear and helplessness.

The Miracle Medtracker is a simple to use device that reminds users to take their medication. Using modified timing and tracking capabilities, these devices can help prevent overdose and offer medicine users peace of mind. Real-time tracking may also help stop the use of incorrect medicine before it is too late.

These devices are Bluetooth-enabled and can automatically log medication usage in real-time whenever a container is picked up or an alert is silenced. The smart capabilities open limitless features including progress/usage visualization and the ability to alert family or healthcare professionals about medicine access and dosing irregularities.”

Give – Our app allows for instant donations to homeless people in need of money. The app uses NFC to transfer money from one device to another. Our app lets users use the donations for buying essential products instead of harmful ones.”

MobiIoT – “The application addresses two major inconveniences in the healthcare industry by combining Mobile and IoT.

1. To make the data portable. The doctors, during their daily rounds, are no longer required to go back to their desks to refer to any information about the medical history of the patient. The data is made available on their tablets. This provides them the power to edit and store new information on the go.
2. The doctors, during their daily rounds, are no longer required to search through a huge list of patients to retrieve a record. The application understands the movement of the doctor with the help of beacons geofencing, pulls a patient’s information from the servers only when the doctor is close by and attending that patient.”

Hex – “Color is an integral part of a user’s experience with a product. Hex is a mobile app that allows anybody to create visually stunning palettes for any project. The simplistic design allows the user to easily find their desired aesthetic. The user inputs the hex code of one color and Hex will display the corresponding monochromatic, analogous, and complementary colors.”

PatientHelp – “We built a system that allows nurses and family members to monitor the health and status of a patient. By using Android apps, beacons, SMS, IoT, and Nuance we are able to provide a better picture of the patient’s status. We monitor the patient and the room. The Patient app allows them to call a nurse, view their own medical record and more. The Doctor App allows nurses and doctors to monitor patients better, when they walk into a room it auto populates the EMR with that patient’s data, as well as data about the room. The IoT hub manages the EMR and all of the different sensors in the room, giving up-to-date patient and room info and informing the necessary parties when an incident occurs.

Doc Hack – Are you tired of insane ER costs? Doctors, do you want more space in ever-crowding operation rooms? We have created the perfect doctor’s assistant. Doc Hack uses voice-to-text software to extract medical commands and implement them. An Intel Edison then receives the command and performs the action. Doc Hack seeks to diminish stress, errors, and crowding in busy hospital environments.”

What Can I Do For You – “Everyone has been called from their room to turn on a light or turn down some music by their parents. None of us ever wanted to do it! You were probably farther from the switch than they were. Well no more!

Our team has brought a digital life solution for this problem by using voice commands to perform everyday actions that you’re just too lazy to do yourself!”

Hot pocket – “It can tell you if your wallet is in your pocket by temperature.”

KitQik – “It’s hard being a player, or even just keeping in touch with your friends. Luckily KitQik is here to help you Keep In Touch (Kit) Quickly using an SMS web app that lets you send mass messages to contacts in your phone.”

Nurse Call IoT Station – “A nurse call IoT station is useful at elderly care centers in residential homes. It allows caregivers to monitor the environment settings and to be alerted by a client or another person remotely if their assistance is needed in a specific room.”