CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — On Saturday, the Red Bull Basement at MIT was held, as college students across the globe develop and present their ideas.
Over 15,000 applications were presented nationwide, with the top 10 ideas selected to be showcased at the event. MIT alum Emily “The Space Gal” Calandrelli served as one of the judges.
Stanford students and founders of Argus Daniel Kim and Arjun Oberoi presented their idea. Boston 25 interviewed the students to see what Argus was about.
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“It’s a voice-activated device that essentially takes inputs from people that are visually impaired and helps them with day-to-day tasks. So that’s kind of like the basic spiel of what Argus is.” Said Kim.
When asked what inspired them for their idea, Oberoi said that both student’s grandparents suffer from forms of visual impairment:
“Yeah. So, both of our grandparents actually suffer from visual impairments. My grandpa actually has macular degeneration, and Daniel’s grandmother also has had surgery to help recover her eyesight, but people who are aging or just other people with these visual impairments see the world through a different lens, where they don’t have clear vision even after glasses, because glasses can’t correct everything. And so we were looking for a way to impact the world, and we kind of came upon Argus as a way to help these people who have visual impairments and really empower them and empower people like our grandparents and so many more.”
Their hard work paid off as Daniel Kim and Arjun Oberoi came in first for the U.S. National Final. The two of them will go on to present the U.S. in the World Final in Tokyo, Japan.
Congratulations and good luck to the two bright minds!
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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