Social Innovation
Stanford University students win Red Bull Basement National Final
Arjun Oberoi and Daniel Kim will represent the U.S. at the 2024 Red Bull Basement World Final.
Ten innovative ideas from across the country were selected to compete at the Red Bull Basement National Final on Saturday, November 16, at MIT Media Lab. Of those, only one secured a spot to represent the U.S. at the World Final in Tokyo, Japan, from December 2-5: Argus, founded by Arjun Oberoi and Daniel Kim, both juniors at Stanford University.
Arjun Oberoi and Daniel Kim with the judges
© Adam Glanzman / Red Bull Content Pool
Argus is a two-part visual aid device that easily attaches to a pair of glasses, providing assistance for individuals with visual impairments. The device responds to voice commands and uses a camera and compute module to analyze the user’s environment, answering questions about their surroundings, reading text, or recognizing faces—without needing Wi-Fi or cellular data. Unlike existing expensive solutions, Argus uses advanced technology to make this a low-cost, lightweight, and high-performance product.
Arjun Oberoi with the prototype
© Arjun Oberoi with the prototype
The inspiration behind Argus came from Oberoi and Kim’s personal experiences with their grandparents, who began experiencing vision loss as they aged. This motivated the duo to create a solution aimed at improving the quality of lives of those facing similar challenges.
“Argus helps level the playing field for those with visual impairments,” said Kim. Many of these circumstances that are not according to their will, and it’s an injustice we’d hope to improve by empowering people in their day-to-day tasks.”
Argus founders Arjun Oberoi and Daniel Kim
© Adam Glanzman / Red Bull Content Pool
This year's iteration of Red Bull Basement integrated AI to enhance the overall experience. The Red Bull Basement Chatbot, powered by Microsoft, utilized Azure OpenAI Service and AMD’s data center and AMD Instinct™ Accelerators to support teams in developing their ideas and creating business plans when applying.
AI is a field Kim is well-versed in as he is currently studying AI and Neuroscience. Oberoi added, “We used AI as an assistant to handle a lot of the menial tasks involved in bringing this prototype to life.” Additionally, Kim and Oberoi each won an AI-enabled laptop with AMD's latest RyzenTM AI processor technology to utilize Microsoft's AI technologies leading up to the international competition.
Argus founders Arjun Oberoi and Daniel Kim
© Adam Glanzman / Red Bull Content Pool
Oberoi and Kim will be amongst national winners from 40 countries at the World Final where the overall winner will be decided. Teams will bring their ideas to life for a panel of renowned global judges, with the top team winning a three-week, all-expenses-paid experience in Silicon Valley in 2025.
“I think competitions like Red Bull Basement, where each country sends one team, are always such a celebration,” says Oberoi. He adds that he’s looking forward to “learning from the other teams, making friends, and having a great time while we take our ideas to the next level.”