Clemson’s ‘Pirates’ raid international Microsoft competition and take second place

Published: July 26, 2012

Clemson’s Patrick Dukes (left) and Austen Hayes (center) receive their second-place award in the Kinect Fun Labs Challenge. image by: Kinect Fun Labs Challenge

CLEMSON — A student team from Clemson University’s School of Computing took second place in the Kinect Fun Labs Challenge, one of eight competitions held as part of the 10th annual Microsoft Imagine Cup.

The theme for the 2012 Cup, held recently in Sydney, Australia, was: Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.

Graduate students Patrick Dukes and Austen Hayes, known competitively as the “Whiteboard Pirates,” developed a stroke rehabilitation application using Microsoft’s Kinect tracking system. Kinect is a motion-sensing input device that enables users to control and interact with an Xbox 360 or a desktop computer without having to touch a game controller. The interface is accomplished with gestures and spoken commands.

“Duck Duck Punch” interjects a little fun into what sometimes can be a challenging rehabilitation regimen. Dukes and Hayes saw shortcomings with current stroke therapy that they could address with the Kinect.

“Since we wanted the program to be one that could actually be used, we consulted with stroke therapist Dr. Michelle Woodbury of the Medical University of South Carolina,” said Hayes. The goal was a cost-effective system that could be used at home. The pair came up with a design that helps with upper arm therapy.

“Several patients at the Medical University of South Carolina’s stroke center have tested the game, and the response has been quite positive,” Dukes said

“I couldn’t be more proud of Patrick and Austen,” said Larry Hodges, director of the School of Computing, and team adviser. “Over 500 teams from around the world initially entered the competition by writing a project proposal. Some 100 teams were then asked to submit working software, a user’s manual, a written paper, and a video describing their application.” 

The top three teams were awarded a free trip to the final completion in Sydney.  Of the 24 teams who were awarded first-, second- or third-place in one of the eight competitions, only two were from the U.S.

In 10 years, the Imagine Cup has grown to be a truly global competition focused on finding solutions to real-world problems. Since 2003, more than 1.4 million students have participated in the Imagine Cup with 358,000 students representing 183 countries and regions registering for the Imagine Cup 2012 competition.

“This international test underscores our students’ talents and capabilities, and says a great deal about the quality of our graduate programs in computer science,” said R. Larry Dooley, interim dean of Clemson’s College of Engineering and Science. “Patrick and Austen made their presence felt on a world stage.”

An article in Popular Science describes Clemson’s entry here:  http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-07/kicking-2012-imagine-cup

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