HackPrinceton
ReCall.ai Team Members (left to right): Vedanta Somnathe, Vishak Vikranth, Chanakya Thirumala Setty, and Ansh Agrawal (photo provided by ReCall.ai)
On November 8-10, HackPrinceton united hundreds of the brightest college students from around the world for a 36-hour in-person hackathon. Participants leveraged mentorship and resources to build innovative software solutions, tackling global challenges with creativity. This year, HackPrinceton introduced the Patient Safety Technology Challenge, offering hackers in the healthcare track a unique opportunity to create impactful solutions aimed at reducing medical errors and improving patient safety. This initiative not only challenged participants to innovate within a critical sector but also provided them with a platform to contribute to meaningful change in healthcare. Lisa George, who judged the Patient Safety Technology Challenge, said it was "an absolutely superb event that my team and I were thrilled to participate in. The talent was impressive and their passion towards patient safety was palpable. We can't wait for next year's event."
The Patient Safety Technology Challenge sponsored a prize worth $300. ReCall.ai won the prize with each of their team members receiving a $75 Amazon gift card. Their team included Vedanta Somnathe, Vishak Vikranth, Chanakya Setty, and Ansh Agrawal. Somnathe, Vikranth, and Setty are all Computer Science students at the University of Alabama, and Agrawal studies Computer Science and AI at the University of Toronto. They teamed up to develop smart glasses that merge wearable technology with memory support to help individuals with mild cognitive impairment recognize faces and recall conversations.
It was Setty’s personal experience that inspired the team to develop ReCall.ai. after his grand-aunt was unable to recognize him during his last visit to her. Somnathe shared that the team thought discreet and non-invasive triggers and reminders were the best way to approach the problem, and they ultimately integrated these, along with other functionalities, into glasses. ReCall.ai does this by identifying people in real-time and providing gentle reminders about past relationships and interactions, enabling users to maintain independence while providing unobtrusive support.
Added benefits of the platform include daily routine and medication management, as well as an opportunity to contribute to research in the field in an ethical manner. It gathers data on memory patterns, social engagement, topic recognition, interaction duration, and physical activity. Through these data sources, ReCall.ai tracks recognition needs and functional decline, monitors the frequency, length, and quality of social interactions, assesses memory retention by way of conversation analysis, and gathers physical activity data to study the impact of exercise on cognitive function. The summary dashboard tracks physical and emotional research-based metrics to provide healthcare professionals with a holistic analysis of patient behavior.
Andrew Cho and Lily Weaver of the HackPrinceton Organizing Team said, “Partnering with Pittsburgh Regional Health to bring the Patient Safety Tech Challenge to our hackathon at Princeton was an amazing experience. It was inspiring to see our participants dive into real-world healthcare challenges and come up with creative ideas to make patient safety a priority. The energy and passion they brought to the table were incredible, and it really showed how technology and innovation can make a real difference in people’s lives. We’re so grateful for this collaboration and excited about the impact these ideas could have in the future."
