The Handi Glass team has won the first prize at the recent Startup Weekend Da Nang contest for making “smart” glasses for physically disabled people.

The team’s glasses allow a disabled person to control a mouse cursor on a computer screen via the movement of their head and eyes.

One of the team’s members is third-year student Le Huynh Nhat Thuong from the Da Nang University of Technology (DUT).  He remarked that his team’s idea stemmed from his team’s contact with disabled people in Thua Thien-Hue Province.  They realised that it was very difficult for disabled people, especially the young, to use computers for their learning and entertainment purposes.  This motivated the team to create the “smart” glasses.  The student added that it had cost his team only around 290,000 VND to make a pair of glasses, but they spent too much time and energy on researching and designing the item.

Prize-winning teams are honoured at the contest

Another team member, final-year student Le Anh Tien also from the DUT, affirmed that his group’s participation in the 54-hour weekend contest aimed at bringing their innovation to fruition.

The Startup Weekend Da Nang contest, the first of its kind in the city, was jointly organised by the Global Shapers Community Da Nang Hud and the Startup Viet Nam organisation.  Taking the slogan “No Talk. All Actions”, the event was open to young local people who have a passion for doing business.  The contest created the chance for developers, designers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts to come together in order to share ideas, form teams, build products and launch startups.  The contest’s organisers and experienced local businessmen provided consultancy for the teams to help them make plans for their startups.

As first prize winners, the Handi Glass team will receive financial assistance from the PVNI, which is a venture capital network which focuses on investing in high-potential startups in Viet Nam.  Handi Glass and the second prize-winning Startup Viet team have been chosen to compete in the city’s forthcoming “100 Potential Businesspeople in Da Nang” programme.  In addition, they will have the opportunity to be interviewed at a “Viet Nam Silicon Valley (VSV) Accelerator” programme which will be run by the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology.