Matlhogonolo and Masego Mphahlele are the Red Bull Basement South Africa representatives who will showcase their innovative digital x-ray glasses at the Red Bull Basement Global Final on March 24-27 in Istanbul, Turkey.
The twin sisters from Hammanskraal beat 125 other applicants in the local application phase of Red Bull Basement. Red Bull Basement is a global initiative to discover new innovations by university students and showcase them to a global audience. The aim of the competition is to inspire innovative tech ideas that can drive positive change in their local communities.
The twin sisters have the vision to change the world with an idea that originated from playing a soccer match. In 2019, one of their teammates was injured in a game and the friends spent hours waiting for an X-ray at the local hospital.
Seeing their friend suffer whilst they waited to be seen made Matlhogonolo and Masego realize that there must be a quicker solution, and so an idea was born, Digital X-ray Glasses.
Now the two students will be sharing their brilliant tech idea at the Red Bull Basement Global Final on March 24-27 in Istanbul, Turkey. Motivated by keynote speakers, mentors, and workshops, Matlhogonolo and Masego will collaborate and pitch their tech idea to a panel of judges.
Matlhogonolo and Masego said: “When our teammate was injured playing soccer it was difficult for us to see her in pain whilst we waited for hours for an X-ray. We knew that there must be a quicker and more portable solution than traditional X-ray machines.
“After much thinking and deliberation, we came up with the idea of Digital X-ray Glasses. Just think, after a tough tackle in a rugby match, the medic could take a digital X-ray there and then secure the player’s safety.
“This idea could not only help the medical profession but also save lives.”
The South African sisters and 43 other teams from around the world will now take part in three immersive days at the Global Final in Istanbul, with workshops and mentorship sessions available as well as access to some of the world’s most visionary thought leaders.
The tech solutions envisioned by the Red Bull Basement finalists center around eight sustainability categories inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Body and Mind, Career, Clean Water, Climate Action, Education, Empowerment, Energy and Smart Cities. Their ideas are set to be pitched to global visionaries including Kudzi Chikumbu, a leader in community and creator at one of the world’s biggest entertainment short-form video platforms, General Founder and CEO, Mr Sam Jones, Worldwide Generation Founder, and CEO Manjula Lee, Intel’s Gaming and eSports General Manager Marcus Kennedy and Senior Vice President, Marketing Operations at NTT Ltd, Ceri McCall.
Matlhogonolo and Masego continued: “We can’t wait to pitch our project to the judges and if we are successful, hopefully, we can take X-ray technology to a new level, giving hospitals access to this innovative tech whilst reducing the number of times patients have to wait to have a scan.”
The team honored as ‘Global Winner 2021’ will receive a custom package of resources to realize their unique idea.
Students from past editions of Red Bull Basement have gone on to create a global impact. In 2020, Brunel University’s Joanna Power and Paramveer Bhachu designed and built an innovative water-saving device, the Lava Aqua X portable electric washing machine.
In 2019, winners Sophie Bolzer and Nadine Szentivanyi from Austria, created Advice, helping companies unlock the power of voice messages to share information more effectively across their teams, partners, and customers.
You can see the one-minute video submission from Matlhogonolo and Masego Mphahlele here: https://basement.redbull.com/en-gb/projects/1438
Information on all the finalist teams and their next-generation ideas can be found at Red Bull Basement.
