By John Kaiser, Writer, Microsoft
Microsoft Research recently concluded its eighth annual summer school (opens in new tab) in Kazan, Russia, challenging students to conceptualize and build new applications from the sensors and devices emerging from the Internet of Things (IoT).
Students and speakers at the Microsoft summer school in Kazan, Russia, 2016
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“Our summer schools are an opportunity to expose students to the latest technologies in computer science,” said Judith Bishop, director of computer science, who organized the weeklong program held in July. “In order to obtain, analyze and use information from sensors of all different kinds, knowledge of broad range of underlying technology is essential. The students were eager to learn from experts in IoT.”
The 60 mostly postgraduate students at the summer school were carefully selected from across Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. While lectures were going on focused on everything from Dependable Communications to Design and Machine Learning to Security, students formed groups and created useful IoT applications from Microsoft Band (opens in new tab) bracelets, SensorTag (opens in new tab) Dev Kits and other devices.
Students working on their projects at the Microsoft Russian summer school
Some groups configured new applications for indoor spaces using sensors to control background lighting, to measure tiny fluctuations in the height of skyscrapers or to adjust the microclimate for indoor houseplants.
Others used sensors for educational purposes. Students hypothesized that learning to play the guitar might be easier if people received tactile feedback triggered whenever they made a mistake, such as strumming the wrong note. So they configured a bracelet to vibrate in response to user error. Conversely, a silent bracelet effectively signaled that the student was playing correctly.
Judith Bishop seen with the Learn to Play a Guitar group
Other students aimed to build a wrist band solution to help people stay motivated during fitness routines, such as jogging.
According to one student’s account, “Originally we wanted to embed many lie detectors, which would work on the basis of an analysis of the skin temperature and other sensor readings.”
Eventually, they turned to behavioral economics to inspire a possible solution. In theory, a bracelet could be configured to automatically trigger a transfer of funds from the jogger’s account to a charity in response to missing a planned workout.
Kazan is one of Russia’s leading tech hubs and home to 44 academic institutions, contributing to a steady stream of talented computer science students in the region. Four years ago, a research park was created on the outskirts of Kazan, forming Innopolis University (opens in new tab) to focus entirely on IT and robotics research.
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