Rhinnovation, a group of Mexican university students, created the “Life Account,” a melding of the Internet of Things and social media to win Cisco‘s second I-Prize.
The Life Account is a platform that gathers information about users through connected devices in the physical world and online data from the virtual world. This data is then aggregated to generate a virtual profile that understands habits and behavior patterns of the user.
“Life Account will generate a database with improved and meaningful information about the market and customers,” said team leader Darius Lau. “Information can be filtered, reducing the complexity and response time of activities, while maximizing communication among people, companies and smart devices in order to detect under-served and unarticulated needs, expectations and desires about the products, and market research for its key partners, while always protecting the privacy of its users.”
The winning team was selected on the basis of their idea’s technological innovation as well as the promise of the new business opportunity for Cisco. The prize carries a cash award of $250,000.
Rhinnovation are all students at the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. Led by Darius Lau and included Lizett Michel Gallegos, Claudia Alexandra Vargas Prieto, Guillermo Antonio Araiza Torres and Juan Rodrigo Huerta Manning, they beat out 800 other ideas from 3,000 participants in 156 countries and six continents.
