A project using artificial intelligence to transcribe text in real time for people with hearing impairments has won the FALLING WALLS LAB KYIV competition for young innovators organized by Klitschko Foundation and KSE Foundation. This became known on 28 September during the final of the competition.

Mark Motliuk, a student of the Kyiv School of Economics, came up with the original idea of identifying the speaker during voice transcription. He will receive tickets and an invitation to the Falling Walls Conference in Berlin, the world's innovation arena. 

‘It is difficult for a person with hearing impairments to have a conversation with several people at the same time when the text of the conversation is transcribed for them, but the speakers are not identified. I have combined two artificial intelligence models in an app that will not only transcribe the voice, but also identify who is speaking. I believe that this will improve the lives of people with hearing impairments,’ Mark says.

Among all the applications submitted by the young innovators, the committee selected 10 to participate in the final stage. The participants had 3 minutes to present their idea in English to the jury. Applications were evaluated based on three criteria: innovation, relevance and practical feasibility of the idea. The highest priority for the jury was the level of novelty and the breakthrough factor that the idea could create.

Another idea that was highly recognised by the jury was to solve gastroenterological problems with the help of a new lactobacillus product. This idea was proposed by Anastasia Dmytriv, a student of Lviv Polytechnic, and she won second place at Falling Walls Lab Kyiv. She will also represent Ukraine at the Falling Walls Conference in Berlin.

‘We have implemented this project because we want to create all the conditions for young Ukrainian innovators to be able to present their ideas, find like-minded people, receive funding, and grow their unicorn companies. Despite the current challenges facing Ukraine, innovation and breakthrough ideas are key, which is why supporting talented young people is an investment in the future that will pay off. All ideas are important and necessary — from proposals for adaptation to the educational process to a medical start-up that aims to prevent diseases of the digestive system. And I believe that we will hear about their successful implementation very soon,’ says Angelina Osadcha, Director of the Klitschko Foundation.

‘This year's participants of the competition proposed the most ideas for ‘breaking down walls’ in the field of education. Since KSE Foundation is an educational charity in its DNA, supporting the initiatives of talented Ukrainians from various fields, we are pleased to see so many motivated young people who are ready to work today to change Ukraine tomorrow. This is what we in the KSE community believe in, and we are happy to expand our circle of like-minded people,’ comments Svitlana Denysenko, Director of KSE Foundation.

The ideas were evaluated by a competition committee consisting of: Olga Serdyuk, Director of the Olena Pinchuk Foundation; Volodymyr Ivashchuk, co-founder and CEO of Transient Technologies; Volodymyr Zhuravel, Ukrainian artist and sculptor; Oleksiy Strutynsky, Director of the Sikorsky Challenge Innovation Holding; and Natalia Lyashchenko, Director of the Television and Radio Company ‘Kyiv’.

The global conference on innovations FALLING WALLS CONFERENCE will take place on 7-9 November in Berlin. There, Mark Motliuk and Anastasia Dmytriv will present their ideas, meet with the most famous scientists, startupers and entrepreneurs from around the world, and get a chance to enlist the support of potential investors.