Who is representing Canada at Imagine Cup World Finals?

We have selected a team to represent Canada at the Imagine Cup World Wide Finals in Seattle, Washington July 27-31st.

Canada already had it’s best year on the Imagine Cup world stage!  Canadian teams earned honorable mentions in the Pitch video worldwide challenge, and two first place finishes in the User Experience and Project Blueprint Challenges (read more about those winners here). Next up is the Imagine Cup World Wide Finals where the top 33 teams from around the world vie for the title of Imagine Cup champion! So who will be representing Canada at the world finals?

Congratulations Team Walk Safe from Queens University!

Riley Karson – Software Design, Julie Lycklama – Software Design, Anastasiya Tarnouskaya – Biomedical Computing (Queen's University),

Chris Thomas – Software Design

What did they do?

“Hey mom, I’ll just ride my bike to the party”. I want to give my teenage son some independence, but I still worry about sending him off on his bike alone. I can ask him to call when he arrives, but, I know he probably won’t remember. I could call or text him, but I know he won’t appreciate an overprotective parent. So what do I do? I need project Walk Safe!

Team WalkSafe built a phone application that combines the power of smartphone technology and social media to create an interactive network designed to provide a safer walking and commuting experience for its users.

The app works by asking the user (in this case my son) to enter his intended destination, select an estimated arrival time and then choose a trusted network, (i.e. friends, family, etc.) to share their journey with. Using the Maps API, the app tracks the user’s location as they walk and allows the walker’s trusted network to see whether the user is safely on their way. Once the walker arrives at their destination, WalkSafe’s automatic check-in feature notifies the trusted network (in this case, me ,the worried mom) that the user has safely arrived. The best part of this feature is that my son does not have to remember to tell me he arrived safely arrived at his destination, the app does it for him. I can simply pull out my phone to see if he has arrived.

If my son does not make it to his destination on time, I will be alerted via my smartphone and will be prompted to take action. I can see my son’s last known location and battery level so I can decide on the best course of action.  If I see he has stopped at Tim Horton’s I won’t be too concerned, but if I see him completely off course, I can call, text, drive out to see if something is wrong, or even call the police.

What happens now?

The team has already been busy with interviews on CBC Radio and an article in the Kingston Whig Standard. They are fine tuning their app and presentation to prepare for the World Finals in Seattle. At the world finals they will showcase their project, get hands on with HoloLens and they will compete against 10 other teams in the Innovation category for a $50,000 USD prize. The top team in the Innovation, World Citizenship, and Games categories will then go head to head to win the Imagine Cup and a private meeting with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Below is a short video from the 2014 World Finals to give you an idea of what they can expect when they arrive!

We wish team Walk Safe all the best and good luck at the World Finals! Go Canada!