What We Learned At APICTA

Journeying to Guangzhou in China to the APICTA, showcasing technological innovation, was the experience of a lifetime. Not only did we, as ‘Passion Your Purpose’, get a huge opportunity to showcase and promote our own application for the promotion of mental health, but we also got to make TONNES of new connections within the worldwide business and technology world.

We met a team of coders who had developed a computer code to safeguard students whilst they were online at school, with a sister program enabling a similar setup at home (as their schools didn't previously possess this technology). We learnt about and investigated large numbers of artificial intelligence projects, all with different applications across several industries. We learnt more about an artificial intelligence developed by a team of students that would measure the saturation level in soil (for farm fields) and would then overturn the soil to fit the farmer's intentions - showcased at the APICTA 'Student Studio'. Also showcased was an artificial intelligence that combed over fields of crops to detect pesticides, or unwanted issues - any bacteria found within soils or growing around crops - that could identify what the issue was and could inform the farmer almost instantaneously, so that the farmer could then take the appropriate measures to protect his/her crops.

We met a team that had developed an artificial intelligence to measure whether or not a source of water was safe for drinking and built in methods of making it so if it were not.

We even met a team from Australia who took out a Winner's Award for developing a shark spotting technology that can be easily deployed across Australian beaches as a drone, taking in measurements of any shark spotted and identifying the type of shark - sending appropriate alerts to lifeguards and safety officials so an official warning can be issued.

On top of all the amazing technological innovations we came to learn about through APICTA, we learnt all about how robots and drones function when we went to a trade festival, with part of the showcase detailing technological advancements. Virtual reality that could transfer almost anything put in front of it to a screen, in your chosen animation, robots that could stack items in bulk, robots that could delicately perform tiny tasks to ensure perfection, as well as drones that could detect and identify even the tiniest of objects from high above.

Guangzhou, especially for four high school students, was an amazing opportunity to immerse ourselves in the technological world and to come to a greater understanding of just how much influence technology has on society; its benefits and successes. We have all developed a greater appreciation for the importance of innovation in the technology and science areas for without it we as humans could not carry on and evolve.