On April 24, out of 22 teams from 11 universities, Wuhan University’s Xight team achieved first place in the 2012 Microsoft "Imagine Cup" China division and will advance to the global finals held in Australia representing mainland China.
The theme of this year’s competition is “imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.” Utilizing new Microsoft technology such as Kinect, Windows and Windows Phone, students devise new solutions to pressing problems, demonstrating both their creativity and technological abilities.
During the competition, Microsoft officially launched the “Imagine Cup Grants” to offer contestants more opportunities to further their research. Teams who make it to the global finals can apply for these grants and eligible teams will obtain financial，software and resource support from Microsoft.
The Xight team consists of third-year undergraduate students Yang Shuo, Lin Jin, Zhang Huiting, and Yang Ji under the instruction of Professor Cai Hengjin. The team members demonstrate the process of playing the popular game “Fruit Ninja” by eye movement recognition. The fruit was cut in two whenever the player saw the fruit come onto the screen, deeply impressing the judges.
The team name Xight is based on the goal of the techonological demonstration. Team leader Yang shuo says that Xight is a low-cost system to capture the direction of an individual’s optical focus based on pattern recognition. One possible use of the technology is to help disabled persons unable to operate a computer communicate with the external world and obtain information by sight direction recognition captured by a digital camera.
Another team from WHU’s College of International Software, focusOld, was awarded two prizes. FocusOld, members were Shi Xiaochuan，Jia Liyang，Tu Huijun，and Hang Cheng under the instruction of professor Tang CunChen. Also from WHU was the Insight team which consisted of Chen Yuxi，Yang Huai，Wu Jianzhi，and Zheng Yuhang under the instruction of professor Cai Hengjin.
Microsoft’s“Imagine Cup”is the largest science and technology invention contest for students. It serves as stage for students to express their innovative minds and creativity. More than 500,000 students from about 100 countries and territories have participated in this competition since its inception in 2003.
