Team Herald
PANJIM: The State government on Monday felicitated two 12-year-olds from Sanquelim — Viraj Marathe and Janhavee Joshi — who have built an app to help dementia patients as well as their caregivers.
The Class VII students of Dr K B Hedgewar Vidyamandir, Karapur Tisk, Sanquelim, finished fifth in the junior category at the Hackathon. At the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon, Viraj got the opportunity to explain his app to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an interaction held via video-conferencing.
The app was highly appreciated by the Prime Minister, said State IT Minister Rohan Khaunte, while adding that the government appeals to other schools to explore the opportunities in the field of robotics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, etc. through the robotics lab which is fully equipped with STEM materials.
This unique mobile gaming application alerts dementia patients to locate their missing keys or reminds them to take their medicines on time. The app menu consists of provisions such as mental well-being, physical well-being etc.
Viraj has learnt programming and robotics from the age of seven and is currently pursuing a software diploma course and another web development master’s course.
Viraj worked on research, data and information, while Janhavee worked on the design and aesthetics of the app, which also has modules related to yoga and meditation.
