APICTA Awards 2018 - Team AICare

About AICare

On the 9th of October, we went to attend APICTA 2018 to present our project AICare. AICare is an android app which focuses on the healthcare sector. The main objective of the app is to make checking the eyes for diseases and myopia much more convenient and accessible to the public. In order to achieve this, we implemented Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology into our app in order to identify diseases in different types of retinal scans with over 90% accuracy. This may not seem like a very reliable number considering that healthcare is involved, but the AI dataset was created with a limited number of pictures available only to us and with access to larger datasets, this component would be greatly increased. With this, people no longer have to book a consultation with a doctor who will then have to review the images before giving their patients a review. The public would be able to have their eyes scanned and receive the results instantly, with the option of registering for professional treatment.

Experiences during Judging and Awards Ceremony

Our project was being judged on Uniqueness, Value to Community, Functionality and Features and Application of Technology, as well as how applicable our solution would be to real world problems and businesses.

The judging took place on the third day of our arrival in Guangzhou, 12th of October, in The Garden hotel. When we reached the 17th floor of the hotel where our judging was going to take place, we were greeted with a flurry of activity. As we made our way to the Team Singapore meeting room, the floor was packed with competing teams conducting their finals tests and waiting outside the judging rooms, all eager to perfect their presentations of their projects. When it came our turn to present our project, we entered the judging room - which was fashioned by removing the bed and furniture from the room. A panel of four judges from different Asian countries sat awaiting us, and after greeting them and setting up our slides, we began our presentation …

Fast forward to the next day, it was the night of the Prize Ceremony. All teams across all categories gathered in a gala hall. The scene consisted of teams from a multitude of different countries, age groups and occupations. We were kept in suspense through a series of performances as we anticipated the results of our hard work. Finally, when they started announcing the winners of the awards and slowly made their way to the student category, we were kept at the edge of our seats. Teams from unexpected countries, such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, Brunei, Bangladesh were winning a number of awards, which we found quite eye-opening. Finally, it came to the student category. “And the winners of the merit awards are… AIcare…” When we heard our name, we were buzzing with excitement. We got an award! We went onto the stage to claim our award, alongside the other DHS team that came with us, VeriNews, and our new friends from RI - where the following picture was taken in commemoration.

Experiences Outside Judging

Our experiences in Guangzhou were not limited to APICTA itself. In fact, we were also given the opportunity to explore Guangzhou and visit some of the famous tourist attractions.

We visited the Sacred Heart Cathedral, also known as 石室 by locals. Having completed construction way back in 1888, the cathedral has gone through historic events in China such as the Second Opium War. We were impressed with the architecture of the building and we also found out that it is one of the few cathedrals in the world to be entirely built of granite (alongside other famous cathedral such as Notre Dame in Paris).

We also visited the Canton tower that was first constructed for the 2010 Asian games and was the tallest tower in the world back then. The night view atop the tower was amazing and the tower really does stand as a testament to the progress of Guangdong as a province.

Individual Reflections:

Long Ji Yao Arthur

I felt very humbled to be given the opportunity to represent Singapore on a major-scale event like APICTA, not only because it was a first for me, but also because I have learnt a lot through this trip. Firstly, seeing kids younger than us bring in complicated and well-thought out projects was very inspiring to me, as they were extremely passionate about their projects and did not shy away when asked to demonstrate or explain their projects. Secondly, this event opened my eyes towards the aspiring talent in our neighbouring countries, where countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh managed to claim several awards. This taught us that we should not underestimate our neighbouring countries and Singapore has to place more emphasis on tech and computing if we want to have a chance to compete in this market. In addition, we got to experience the culture of the city, wireless payment and all - which made us ponder how it could be implemented in Singapore.

Poh Say Keong

Personally, I was impressed with the projects of a team of primary school students from Malaysia. They made integrated sensors into the creation of their “smart farm” project. It is able to monitor the conditions in the farm and also take appropriate actions when needed. There were also other very young teams that presented their projects that I found meaningful as well. I’m glad that students at such a young age are able to pursue their interest in the field of Information Technology and I do hope that local students will get to do the same as well. The trip has been very eye opening for me and the exposure to all the interesting projects has certainly motivated me to work harder to create better projects myself.

Tai Chee Hian

Going to attend a major event like APICTA was definitely an eye-opener and the highlight of my year. First of all, we got to meet teams from other countries who were just as passionate about computing as us, making some friends in the process. Their projects and innovation were also very impressive. Secondly, this being my first time in Guangzhou, i got to experience not only the amazing sights such as the the Canton Tower, but also the technological advancement there. Thirdly, the judging process gave us some good insight on the industry standards that we were lacking and also how to improve on our project to make it production ready. Finally, during the prize presentation i realised that many of the winning teams were from a few specific countries such as Bangladesh and Sri lanka, and that we had to up our game in this industry inorder to compete with them.