Singapore National Runner-up for James Dyson Award 2024

Team members (back row from left): Manas Bam (NUS), Sparsh (NUS), Shrivardhan Goenka (NTU) together with National Winner, Luke Goh (NUS), Yajat Gulati (NTU, squatting down) and James Dyson Foundation team.

A team of students, including Shrivardhan Goenka (Year 3, CSC¹) and Yajat Gulati (Year 3, CSC¹) from NTU, has been crowned as Singapore National Runner-up at the prestigious James Dyson Award² for their innovative project, yaR (meaning “friend” in Hindi). 

 yaR is an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered assistive wearable device designed to help visually impaired individuals navigate their surroundings with greater independence. This compact, pendant-like device utilizes advanced AI to recognize objects, read text, and describe scenes, providing users with real-time information about their environment through audio feedback. The team, comprising Manas Bam (NUS), Shrivardhan Goenka (NTU), Sparsh (NUS), and Yajat Gulati (NTU), united through a series of NUS-NTU collaborations and shared interests in technology and innovation. Their journey began at NUS Hack and Roll, where they first pitched the concept of yaR.

The development of yaR was supported by NTU's Student Entrepreneurship Program (SEP) and CCDS’s Innovation Lab (I-Lab). The team credits I-Lab for providing a dedicated workspace crucial to their innovation process. "I-Lab gave us a haven from academic pressures and social commitments where we could focus solely on building," said Yajat Gulati. The team also received valuable guidance from NTU professors – Mohamed M. Sabry Aly, Arvind Easwaran, and Bo An. These faculty members provided insights on hardware development, shared experiences from similar projects and offered critical feedback during the team’s SEP application process.

yaR stands out for its sleek design, ease of use, and comprehensive features. Unlike existing solutions, it offers existing technologies like object recognition, text reading, and scene description in a compact, water-resistant device with long battery life and Long Term Evolution (LTE) connectivity – all at an accessible price.

The team’s success in the James Dyson Award competition is a testament to their innovative thinking and the robust support they received from NTU’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. As they continue to refine yaR, they aim to further miniaturize the device and enhance its object detection capabilities. The device is open-sourced and currently seeking crowdfunding on Kickstarter.

The National Winner (NUS, Mammosense), another National Runner-up (SUTD, airXeed Radiosonde) and yaR, will progress to the international stage of the James Dyson Award, where they will stand a chance to receive S$50,500.

The international top 20 shortlist will be announced on 16th October, and the international winners on 13th November.

 

Notes: 

¹CSC: B.Eng in Computer Science

²The James Dyson Award is an international design competition which inspires and celebrates the next generation of design engineers. The Award operates across 29 countries this year and has supported over 400 problem-solving inventions with over £1million in prize money. It is run by the James Dyson Foundation, Sir James Dyson’s engineering-education charity.

During the National Judging round, a panel of external judges will select 1 National Winner and 2 National Runners-up in each of the 29 participating countries. The National Winner and Runners-up will enter the next stage, where a panel of Dyson Engineers will review, select, and shortlist the Top 20 teams globally. The shortlist then makes it to Sir James Dyson who will personally select the international winners and runners-up.

 

LHZB article:
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/singapore/story20240912-4677956