ICS News Archive

2017 Med AppJam Focuses on AR

The 2017 Med AR AppJam, hosted by the ICS Student Council, came to a successful close on Nov. 17 after teaming up 62 information and computer science student developers with 13 biology and medical students. The two-week coding competition, now in its sixth year, challenged student teams from two distinct disciplines to work collaboratively and create fully functional mobile medical applications for iOS or Android platforms based around this year’s them of Augmented Reality (AR) for healthcare. To be successful, apps needed to fit within three broad classifications: medical student assistance, faculty teaching, or clinical learning for patients and clinicians.

The closing ceremony for 2017 Med AR AppJam took place at UCI Applied Innovation’s The Cove. Over $3,000 in prizes was given out and all winners will have their resumes sent to event sponsors, including Northrop Grumman, Facebook, the UCI School of Medicine, the UCI Program in Nursing Science, The Portal and ICS.

Cleider Gomez, a computer science undergraduate who attended the closing ceremony, said, “Listening to teams pitch their projects showed me that we have some truly talented students here at UC Irvine. This was more than just an AppJam, it was a chance for us to help the medical community.”

Congratulations to the 2017 Med AR AppJam winning teams:

This year’s grand prize of $1,000 went to Team 13, composed of third-year computer science students Patrick Hahn and Michelle Woo, second-year computer science students Danielle Lavigne and Brandon Lavigne, and third-year biology student Steven Chang. Their app, Augmented Reality First Aid, provides concise, user-friendly tutorials on first aid basics and techniques. While most first aid applications are text heavy, AR First Aid takes advantage of the unique platform to keep users engaged visually and break down language barriers.

Second place was awarded to Team 3’s Pill ID application. Fourth-year computer science students Vatsal Rustagi and Vishnu Manivannan, along with second-year medical student Inbal Epstein, used a phone’s camera and AR to identify loose pills that have strayed from their original containers. Pill ID rapidly transcribes user images into pill identification and provides additional information, such as the pill’s dosage and side effects. The group plans to monetize the app via a pharmacy link that will give users the ability to repurchase the medication, with a portion of that sale going to the developers.

In third place was Team 15 -- composed of third-year computer game science student Yuran Yan, third-year computer science students David Liu and Michael Duan, second-year computer science student Simeon Lam, third-year business information management student Tiffany Yu, and microbiology graduate student Nabila Haque -- for their application AR Doc. The iOS app helps users accurately evaluate their symptoms using ARKit Technology while providing an easy communication pathway with their healthcare provider. AR Doc first asks users to mark the exact location of their pain on a precise rendering of the human anatomy, followed by a guided questionnaire and checklist for specific details. The completed sequence provides a clear summary of ailments for users’ doctors.