India's Asmi Jain wins Apple Swift Student challenge with healthcare app

As part of Apple's yearly tradition, during its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), it issues a challenge to students across the globe to create an original app playground using the Swift coding language. This year was no exception as the iPhone maker sent out a similar challenge ahead of WWDC 2023. This year, the number of winners has also been increased from 350 to 375 to include even more students. One of the first-time winners of the competition includes Asmi Jain, an Indian, who built a healthcare app playground designed to help users strengthen their eye muscles.

Jain's inspiration to make the app came from her friend's uncle when she found out that he had to undergo brain surgery and as a result, he was left with eye misalignment and facial paralysis.

Speaking about her experience and winning the competition, Jain said. “It was important for me to create an app playground that could positively impact the lives of people like him. My next goal is to get feedback and make sure it’s effective and user-friendly, and then release it on the App Store. Ultimately, I want to expand it so that it helps strengthen all of the muscles in the face, and I hope it can one day serve as a therapy tool that people like my friend’s uncle can use at their own pace”.

Apple announces WWDC23 winners of Swift Student challenge

Jain's playground app tracks the user's eye movement as they try to follow a ball moving around the screen. The playground’s purpose is to help strengthen the eye muscles. 

Other notable winners of the competition include Yemi Agesin and Marta Michelle Caliendo, both first-time winners of the competition. 

Yemi Agesin, a 21-years old, built a first-person baseball game. The game brings a new perspective and new mechanics to match the gameplay. “When I’m building things, I always try to consider and design for a wide range of perspectives,” said Agesin. 

25-years old Marta Michelle Caliendo built a memory game featuring anatomically correct pictures of dinosaur fossils that she drew in Procreate on iPad. She said, “We all have an opportunity to positively change things in the world, and I see technology and coding as the tools I can use to do that”.