Teams from Singapore, Thailand, and Philippines are winners of the Microsoft AI for Accessibility (AI4A) Hackathon in APAC. In its third year, the AI4A Hackathon features teams who are deeply committed to solving real-world challenges faced by people with disabilities (PwD). The hackathon acts as a springboard for creators and developers to launch their applications, with cash prizes, access to Microsoft Technical experts to co-build their solutions on Microsoft Azure and continued mentoring support to build out their solution.
Drawing on real-life challenges faced by PwDs, 14 non-profit organizations (NPOs) shared problem statements that the 75 teams in the AI4A Hackathon used to build innovative solutions around the themes of transport, wearable devices and language tools.
Team SWIFT Responders from Singapore, Team Asclepius from Thailand, and Team EIA from Philippines created solutions to bridge the disability divide, which include building an AI-enabled communication aid for people who are deaf, a smart system that allows people with physical disabilities to live independently, as well as inclusive banking for people who are blind.
In addition to these winners, two additional teams; Team MeetMeHear from Singapore and Team Arabic Braille Converter from Indonesia, will also receive coaching by Microsoft and its partners. This will include access to cloud architects, business consultation guidance to develop their solution, from a proof-of-concept to an application hosted on Microsoft Azure.
“We are inspired to see the continued enthusiasm of submissions this year for the hackathon to improve the lives of PwDs and congratulate the winners who so passionately brought their solutions to fruition,” said Pratima Amonkar, Chair for D&I and Accessibility for Microsoft Asia Pacific. “The month of May will be an important time for us to see the tremendous possibility of the contribution of PwDs as we roll out exciting awareness, training and mentorship programs with our customers, partners and wider community across the region.”
With more than 1 billion people with disabilities in the world, and 650 million in Asia, Microsoft believes that accessibility is essential to delivering on our mission to “empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” Accessibility is the vehicle to enable inclusion of people with disabilities. To highlight how technology can unlock solutions that empower people with disabilities and enable transformative change within communities in APAC, Microsoft has dedicated the month of May in 2022 to Accessibility Awareness Month, with a series of workshops, trainings and events as well as awarding and celebrating winners of the AI for Accessibility Hackathon winners.
ABOVE: Team SWIFT Responders from Singapore developed a smart system for people with physical disabilities to live independently. L – R: Madeline Lim, Abhimanyu Bhatia; foreground: Nurulasyiqah Mohammad Taha.
Singapore: Team SWIFT Responders
From Singapore, Team SWIFT Responders designed an AI-enabled solution that supports the independent living of adult persons with muscular dystrophy who use motorized wheelchairs for mobility. The Support Wheelchair-user Independence Fall Tracker (SWIFT) smart system that they have developed renders immediate assistance to a wheelchair user who may fall off-balance from their functional position. This inspires confidence for wheelchair users, and assures their caretakers, that they can live independently and engage in meaningful activity as their safety is assured.
ABOVE: Team Asclepius from Thailand developed a sign-to-text app to help people who are deaf or hard of hearing. L-R: Krissada Singhakachain, Peerapat Sangpattrachai, Kittipon Amornprasertkij, Papop Lekhapanyaporn, Nunticha Praphanturakit
Thailand: Team Asclepius
To help people who are deaf or hard of hearing, Team Asclepius from Thailand, developed a sign-to-text application that uses AI deep learning models to capture movement sequences and body postures that predicts alphabets, words and numbers based on American Sign Language.
ABOVE: Team EIA from the Philippines hard at work. They developed an inclusive banking platform for people who are blind. L – R: Christian Calonge, Ivan Christopher Carrillo.
Philippines: Team EIA
To build a more inclusive banking experience for the blind and the elderly, Team EIA from the Philippines developed an Accessibility and Vision Assistant (AVA), powered by AI and machine learning, that works as a smart financial assistant and mobile wallet for the blind and elderly that makes digital banking accessible and clear. This drives financial inclusion for these groups of people and enables them to access payments and banking services quickly and securely.
Two additional outstanding teams have won coaching by Microsoft and its partners to bring their projects into fully running applications hosted on Microsoft Azure:
- MeetMeHear (Singapore): an application to assist persons with hearing disabilities to better communicate with others during physical meetings, through the use of AI for speech recognition to provide more accurate live captions.
- Arabic Braille Converter (Indonesia): an application that can scan and convert Arabic text or graphics into Indonesian Braille format which can be read by screen readers or braille displays. It also has the function to back-translate from Arabic Braille into Arabic text.
Problem Statements from Non-Profit Organizations
NPOs across the region contributed to the hackathon through problem statements, based on real experiences faced by PwD. Some of the problem statements shared include:
- How can AI provide wearable devices that will help persons with visual impairment traverse the streets independently and safely?
- How can AI provide accessibility for online applicant assessment tools such as language assessments, verbal reasoning tests, and abstract reasoning tests?
- How might we automatically create closed captions for offline use to help the deaf and hard of hearing community?
The NPOs represent a variety of organizations committed to improving the lives of people with disabilities in Asia Pacific.
| Korea – Korea Differently Abled Federation | Malaysia – Malaysia Pan-Disability Football Club | Philippines – AHA! Learning Center |
| Philippines – Atriev | Philippines – Project Inclusion | Philippines – Virtualahan |
| Singapore – SG Enable | Sri Lanka – MJF Charitable Foundation | Thailand – Tab Foundation |
| Thailand – The Redemptorist Foundation for People with Disabilities | United Nations Development Program | Vietnam – Disability Research and Capacity Development |
In Singapore, Microsoft’s partner initiatives including its APAC Enabler Program and the Digital Enablement Programme in Singapore will help to improve accessibility for all, bridge the digital divide, and help the disabled chart their own path in society. Together, our collective efforts will help to foster a culture of inclusivity and make technology accessible for all as we build a resilient, digitally inclusive Singapore.