Guitar project for the blind won at Workshop

The Latin American Workshop competition, held from September 30th to October 1st, challenged participants in the Hackathon category to create a system for a visually impaired person who wanted to learn guitar without a teacher present. “Six of us competed: Karol Abril Gracia, Felipe Martínez, Zulma Lautero, Daniel Cucaita, and Nicolai Velandia. We named our team Innovacundi. We met and brainstormed. Some of us would suggest ideas, and then we'd discuss them. That's how Guitar Blind was born: a special instrument for this population,” explains Juan Pablo Cristancho, an electronics engineering student at the Fusagasugá campus.

This competition, which aims to spark creativity, imposed a time limit. “We had from 2:00 p.m. on the first day until 2:00 p.m. on the second day. That's when I put my knowledge as a self-taught guitarist to use with my classmates and talked to them about the importance of the chords I started learning with many years ago. Then we made a user manual, which consisted of images and text in Braille, explaining the parts of the instrument.”.

While their opponents thousands of kilometers away worked tirelessly to win, they put all their effort into defeating them through long days of interaction. “We created a graphical interface using Math Lab, displaying the basic chords on the frets so they could identify them. Then we created a 3D model showing a three-dimensional view of the instrument, with numbers on the first fretboard near the headstock and letters for each fret, all in relief. So, for example, the note C corresponds to the A2 chord combination; if they play it incorrectly, the instrument vibrates.”.

And so the moment of truth arrived, where they had to defend their invention before the judges before the 2:00 pm deadline. “We gave our presentation to the judges from Colombia and Mexico after our competitors had presented. At that moment, through Teams, we explained to them that this guitar had its electrical and electronic components and its advantages.”.

The judges went to deliberate for a few minutes amidst the tension. “Suddenly they reappeared and said: ”The winning group in the social and technological innovation category is: Innovacundi, who knew how to work very well as a team.’ At first, we didn’t understand that we had won until they called us again. We were very happy.”.

For this restless young man, the project doesn't end there. "I spoke with our former tutor, Professor Cristian Eduardo Cano, and he told me it was worth revisiting for my thesis, and that's what I'll do," he says proudly.

In this way, UCundinamarca encourages the creativity of its students with this type of event that seeks to generate ideas that help transform the world into a more inclusive society.

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