EIT Digital Master School student runner up in Imagine Cup World Championship

While DataMasker did not make it to the final for teams for the Imagine Cup World Championship in May, Tian is happy with the runner up position. “We gave it our best shot and made a good achievement. We won 2500 USD prize money and 1000 USD in Microsoft Azure credits in the world final competition. For me, I won a tacit team and nice buddies in the same boat, I learned how to make online collaboration work and time management effectively. Last but not least, I gained a strong network with talents and professionals from all over the world.” 

“What matters is the experience I had and especially the new connections I’ve made. The Imagine Cup is more than just a technology competition, there’s even more opportunity to share your tech ideas for some of today’s most pressing global challenges. I was impressed by innovative projects made by passionate game changers around the world. I received tools, resources, learning materials, and mentors from Microsoft. After this competition, I became a part of an elite international community of students who have shown remarkable creativity and innovation to push technology forward. This priceless experience will open up lots of doors for me.” 

The innovation Wellmask is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that obliges people to wear a mask. The downside of this is that these masks challenge effective communication. The masks decrease the audibility and block facial expressions. The Artificial Intelligence social mask Wellmask, based on semantic extraction & symbol communication, should overcome these challenges. “Wellmask,” says Tian, makes face mask communication easier and happier. “Our solution is making a face mask with a new user interface, presenting visual symbols on the face mask based on semantic extraction, this natural interface, to bridge the communication gap, making social interaction under COVID-19 more fun.” 

The finals of the Imagine Cup mark a beginning for Tian as an entrepreneur. “I will work on refining our product and exploring more business models. In the future, we will optimise the function for different groups, such as adding a lip-read feature for the hearing impaired. At the visual design level, we are considering designing more visual symbol sets for various scenarios, such as hospital scenarios, shopping scenarios. Our ultimate goal is to build a WellMask community，a platform where everyone can upload the emoticons they designed and sell them to others. Also, we are considering brand collaboration, like collaborate with leading Intellectual property, to make WellMask fashionable and closer to daily life.”