Epson America is sponsoring a contest encouraging innovation and design among the IEEE Computer Society student community to drive next-generation application ideas for the Moverio BT-100 transparent wearable display glasses. Epson will be awarding a total of $16,000 in scholarship money plus four pair of Moverio BT-100 glasses to contest winners, including a Grand Prize scholarship totaling $8,000. To participate, students may post either a short video reply on the Moverio YouTube channel or submit an essay between 100 and 1,000 word in length, and fill out the official entry form on Epson's website by April 30, 2013. Each submission will be judged based on several criteria, including creativity, novelty, practicality of implementation, and benefit to humanity. The IEEE Computer Society will judge the submissions.
"The IEEE Computer Society student community is brimming with ideas the world has yet to hear about, and we are eager to see where their creativity takes them," said Eric Mizufuka, Product Manager, New Products, Epson America . "Smart glasses like the Moverio BT-100 are part of a new medium poised to make an incredible impact on the way we experience and engage with a range of multimedia content. This initiative is intended to encourage the student community to identify novel, yet practical applications for this emerging category of see-through wearable display glasses."
Powered by a handheld Android controller, Moverio smart glasses allows users to see digital content on a virtual 80-inch perceived screen that appears to be floating in the user's real world environment. The unique characteristics of the see-through wearable display glasses provide for an endless number of applications, including but not limited to: augmented reality, real-time text transcription, and visualization.
"This initiative is a unique opportunity for IEEE Computer Society student members," said Brian Kirk, lead editor of IEEE Pervasive magazine. "Rewarding collaboration and creativity with scholarship funds and a Moverio BT-100 and is a great way to encourage academic advancement and real-world application ideas. We're looking forward to judging the ideas submitted."
The contest runs from January 1 through April 30, 2013 and is open to IEEE Computer Society student members who attend an accredited community college or university in the United States or Canada (except for Quebec).
