Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) Laguna Team Opticode finished in the Top 10 of the 15th Annual Microsoft Imagine Cup, impressing audiences with their Minerva mobile app for the visually impaired.
Team Opticode’s 3-member team composed of Christian Lou Cepe (Team Leader), Jasmine Pearl Raymundo, and Ma. Rochel Reyes bagged 8th place against 54 other teams from 39 countries in the World Finals of the Imagine Cup.
The Microsoft news release hailed the BS Information Technology students who teamed up to present a technology solution to help improve the quality of life of those with visual impairment with their mobile app, Minerva, a virtual assistant mobile application that taps on the power of the smartphone camera to identify objects in the real world.
“Using various Cognitive Services running on Microsoft Azure, Minerva identifies objects in the immediate environment of users. After pointing their smartphone cameras at a box of cereal, for instance, the app will to describe this aloud using the phone’s speakers,” describes the Microsoft report of the Philippines’ entry in the world tech competition.
Microsoft Philippines Managing Director Bertrand Launay praised Team Opticode saying, “This is a most impressive accomplishment for Team Opticode. The Imagine Cup is the world’s most prestigious student tech competition and we’re extremely proud of the team for all they’ve accomplished. A top 10 finish among 54 other teams from 39 countries in the World Finals shows that the Philippines can compete with the best in the world.”
Imagine Cup is considered by computer science and engineering students as the “Olympics of Technology,” a competition that gathers student developers worldwide to help resolve some of the world’s toughest challenges.
LPU Laguna Team Opticode represented the Philippines in the Imagine World Finals after their third place finish at the Southeast Asia regional finals.
