We recently wrote about the group of North Texas students who were named Best in Nation winners of the 2015 Verizon Innovative App Challenge. The students, at the time all enrolled at Rice Middle School in Plano, were selected for their app concept Mind Glass. The app was developed to offer students with dyslexia options for customizing text to make it easier for them to read and comprehend.
We recently caught up with the students to get a first-hand update on how the app has progressed. Since its launch in the Google Play store June 1, 2015, Mind Glass has been downloaded more than 500 times. When asked about any challenges the team faced when making the concept a reality, they noted that the user interface (UI) and login process software presented some initial glitches. The team navigated these by adjusting formatting on several pages of the app and switching to a new database for user login data.
Despite the fact that a number of the students involved in Mind Glass’ development have moved on to high school, they continue to make improvements to the app and report that they have big dreams for it in the future. In fact, they are currently in development on Mind Glass 2.0. The new version, expected to launch later this year, will include important updates to the UI to allow better tablet compatibility and automatic resizing for different types of screens. The new version will also be mobile-based, and the group is beginning to develop an Apple iOS-compatible version of the app (although this will likely come much later).
The 2016 App Challenge kicked off with the announcement of the Best in State winner on January 11. Two student groups from the DFW area — one in Coppell and one in Southlake — were named winners for their innovative app concepts. A team from Coppell Middle School North was selected for their mobile app idea, VoiceNote, which would assist students relocating from a foreign country avoid language barriers in their new country. ChronicCare, the app concept developed by students at Clariden School in Southlake, would help those suffering from a chronic illness or pain. National winners will be announced Feb. 2, 2016, so stay tuned to see if either of these two groups makes it through!
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R E A D N E X T
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The app turns your smartphone into a "virtual fitting room" with machine learning and AR tech.
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The investment from Silverton Partners will help the North Texas-based company scale. "BILT has created a technology the world desperately needs. I can't imagine in five years, we'll still be dealing with paper instructions," says Silverton Managing Partner Morgan Flager.
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The free, half-day event focuses on the power of positive change and navigating these uncharted times. Capital One's Reimagine Communities Summit features a keynote from Valerie Jarrett, former senior advisor to President Obama, along with insights from a diverse cross-section of innovators, industry disruptors, and content experts.
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Rootines helps the neurodiverse community by tracking their daily moods and routines. Developed initially for those on the autism spectrum, the app will soon support patients with other conditions like ADHD and bi-polar disorder. The $1 million angel investment was provided by Pittsburgh-based Determined Capital.
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UTD students, faculty, and alumni pitched their big ideas for a chance to win cash to push their ventures forward. New this year: Capital Factory presented the first-ever biotech+ challenge award. The event featured a closing conversation on the entrepreneurial ecosystem with long-time business partners Ross Perot Jr. and Anurag Jain.
