College Student Wins $25,000 in the IBM Cool Blue VoiceXML Challenge

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Wireless Developer Network - Daily News

College Student Wins $25,000 in the IBM Cool Blue VoiceXML Challenge

URL(s): www.ibm.com/software/voice

SOMERS, N.Y., April 2, 2001--IBM (NYSE:IBM), one of the founders of the VoiceXML Forum, today announced the winner of the "Cool Blue VoiceXML Challenge." VoiceXML is a new standard for using your voice to browse online information. Brent Metz, 21, originally from Fairfax, VA and a student at Virginia Tech University, won the $25,000 grand prize for his creation of a nutrition planning application that could help people plan their diets by phone.

Brent used IBM's WebSphere Voice Server Software Developers Kit (SDK) that incorporates VoiceXML technology to create a nutritional planning tool in which users follow simple voice prompts to learn more about nutrition and to plan their diet.

The contest was judged by four industry experts who rated submissions based on robustness, originality, reliability, usefulness and integration with other technologies. The panel consisted of:

- Peter Lefkin, Executive Director of the VoiceXML Forum;

- Stephen McClure, Vice President, Speech & Natural Language Software at International Data Corporation;

- Dr. Alfred Z. Spector, Vice President of Services and Software at IBM Research;

- Tony Temple, IBM Fellow and Vice President, Ease of Use, IBM Corporation.

"What impressed me about Brent's program was how smoothly he integrated so many complex components," said Peter Lefkin, Executive Director of the VoiceXML Forum. "The application had a crisp, professional feel, as well as the type of user interface that encourages users to explore all of the layers of the program. Obviously Brent is a talented programmer, and I look forward to his future contributions to the VoiceXML community."

First prize winner, Wei Wang, a post-graduate student at Leeds Metropolitan University won a trip for two to a final championship sports game. He created an astrology application utilizing original sounds and voice prompts. Users answer voice prompts to hear about their Chinese, Eastern or Western sign and other personalized information and useful advice on their Zodiac sign.

Other winners hail from around the world, including London, England as well as Ireland, Montreal, Toronto and Nova Scotia, Canada. Prizes include IBM Thinkpads and free entry to IBM events. Please visit www.ibm.com/software/speech/contest for additional winner information.

The "Cool Blue VoiceXML Challenge" was introduced in December 2000 for students at universities, colleges and technical schools in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Student developers were challenged to create applications that used IBM's VoiceXML-based browser. The Web-based contest was designed to begin cultivating the skills base of the future community of software developers and promote the use of VoiceXML.

IBM's WebSphere Voice Server with ViaVoice Technology eases the creation of applications in VoiceXML and Java(TM).

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