Xtremeapps::2014 Hackathon Paints Bright Future For Singapore

Press release - Singapore - Aug 5, 2014:

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and Information Technology Standards Committee (ITSC) today announced the winners of the Hackathon at a prize presentation ceremony held at the National Design Centre.

This year’s hackathon saw a record turnout with over 250 participants making up 101 teams across its Open and Junior categories working on ideas that The pioneering 24-hour hackathon—now in its eighth year—is one of IDA’s and ITSC’s initiatives geared to create greater hands-on awareness in technology and encourage the development of computational thinking in young tech talents. These are essential skills as Singapore becomes the world’s first Smart Nation.

IDA Chairman Steve Leonard extends a congratulatory hand to this year’s code::XtremeApps:: Champions – Tria Artifex – for their invention, a “BlackBox” for cars, aimed at reducing traffic fatalities.

This year’s Grand Prize of S$9,000 went to team Tria Artifex, formed by Wong Wai Tuck and Kong Yu Jian, both aged 20 and currently serving their full-time national service, and Clarence Ngoh Peng Yu, 21, a freshman from Singapore Management University (SMU). The team created BlackBox, a car crash detection system that saves precious minutes off emergency response time in the event of an accident, and could mean the difference between life and death.



The BlackBox immediately signals for emergency responders upon detecting a genuine crash and activates a live camera feed to assess the condition of the driver. The device also sends data and alerts the nearest hospital with the driver’s pre-registered vital medical details such as blood type, allergies and medical history to ensure a hospital is ready for a patient even before they are rushed through its emergency doors.

For the innovative use of incorporating road and traffic data from the Land Transport Authority (LTA), Tria Artifex was also awarded the data.gov.sg prize.

Saving lives, automating cooking and helping the disabled were the winning innovative ideas from Singaporeans at this year’s code::XtremeApps:: Hackathon.

 Hackathon is referring to programming marathon event which lasted 24 hours non-stop.


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