HELLENIC TELECOM ORGANIZATION S A : Innovative Eye Tracking application was the winning idea in COSMOTE HACKATHON

Innovative ideas for the new digital era were showcased in the first COSMOTE HACKATHON[1], the innovation marathon competition, which was organized to promote young and talented people.

Mr. George Athanasopoulos, Chief Information Officer at ΟΤΕ Group stated: "Through COSMOTE HACKATHON we wanted to prove that opportunities cannot be found only abroad. There are here in Greece as well. Such opportunities we create at ΟΤΕ Group. Because we believe in technology and innovation as a vehicle for a better world. Congratulations to all of the young people who participated in the first COSMOTE HACKATHON. All the ideas presented were exceptional. And this fills us with optimism for the future of the country".

The winners

The 1st prize, along with a monetary reward of €5,000,was awarded to the "Loceye" team for the "Eye Tracking Analysis Software" idea. It is about the first cross-platform application which monitors the iris of the eye and analyzes the way we observe the environment, with minimum requirements in terms of equipment. The outcome can be utilized for marketing applications, as well as by HCI (Human Computer Interaction) researchers and cognitive psychologists. The team is comprised of Konstantinos Aleksoglou, Gregory Giannakopoulos, Jason Paraskevopoulos, Anastasia Pachni Tsitiridou and Dimitrios Raptis.

The 2ndprizewas awarded to "Kiiim" team for the "AYLO - Location Based Messaging" idea. It is about an alternative application of exchanging messages which enables the user to send multiple messages, written or multimedia, open to all or privately, which are accessible to the receiver only when he/she visits a particular location. The team is comprised of Christos Koutsouradis and Panos Ksenakis, who received SAMSUNG GALAXY S8 devices as well as SAMSUNG GEAR VR Visual Reality Headsets from GERMANOS stores.

The 3rdprize,along with gift vouchers worth of €300 from GERMANOS, was awarded to "IRIS" team for the "Chat Bots & Business Intelligence Solutions" idea. It is about a customer provisioning solution which combines Chat Bot technologies with business intelligence solutions and advanced algorithms of Artificial Intelligence (ΑΙ). The team is comprised of Nikos Voutouras and George Saraditis.

Additionally, mentoring and personalized consulting services will be offered to the "SentiGeek" team for the "Products & Services Customer Feedback Analysis" idea as wells as to the "SBT" team for the "Bicycle Gear Shifting Automation" idea through a 6 month free hosting by the Athens Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEin) of theAthens University of Economics and Business.

The competition

The 14 teams that reached the final phase had been working for more than 26 hoursin a specially designed space of ΟΤΕ Academy, in order to "run the code for the future" and finalize their proposal. Specialized mentors from business and academic communities supported the teams, with practical counseling and mentoring. At the peak of the competition, the teams presented their proposals to the COSMOTE HACΚATHON committee, which was comprised of 10 members, includingMr. Michael Tsamaz, Chairman & CEO of OTE Groupand chose the three winning teams.

During the two-day innovation celebration event, participants had the opportunity to familiarize themselves and utilize impressive new technologies, such as the Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality, in the specially designed GERMANOS experience room, G-TECH Lounge.

TheCOSMOTE HACKATHONwas implemented along with the Athens University of Economics and Business as well as the Athens Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEin), while it was supported by GERMANOS and sponsored by COSMOTE TV.

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