An idea for the future: Digital X-Ray Glasses
Meet the South African student innovators who are pitching an ingenious idea at the Red Bull Basement Global Final.
Twin sisters Matlhogonolo and Masego Mphahlele from the University of Johannesburg have a 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 realise 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.
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“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 and 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 centre around eight sustainability categories inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Body & 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, Gener8 Founder and CEO Sam Jones, World Wide 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 amount of time patients have to wait to have a scan.”
The team honoured as ‘Global Winner 2021’ will receive a custom package of resources to realise 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 Audvice, 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: Information on all the finalist teams and their next-generation ideas can be found at Red Bull Basement.