Holmdel High Senior Invents Virtual Reality Hand Device

HOLMDEL, NJ — A student from Holmdel High School is among 300 students nationwide going into the next round of the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search.

Amanda Shayna Ahteck is one of nearly 2,000 high school students who submitted their research projects in what is considered the oldest contest of its kind, founded in 1942 by the Society for Science & the Public. Ahteck is the first Holmdel High School student to earn this recognition.

Shayna’s device, when attached to rings placed on the hands, can allow someone to type in mid-air. There are further possible applications of this device as a virtual reality controller and as a medical rehabilitation device for tracking hand injuries.

"We are absolutely thrilled for Shayna. Her idea for her project came one day during her AP Physics class,where her teacher Mr. Keller was discussing the relationship of wire cross-section to resistance," said Dr. Josephine Blaha, who teaches Shayna in the Honors Advanced Research class at Holmdel High. "From there she applied her love of crocheting and crocheted the sensors using conductive thread, conceiving this amazing project all on her own! Congratulations, Shayna! All Holmdel is proud of you!”

Her project titled ‘A Novel Low Cost Resistive Soft Crochet Stretch Sensor as Applied to a Wearable Bluetooth Keyboard Text Input Device – midiKEY’ utilizes conductive thread crochet chains, which act as sensors. Five of these sensors are connected to a microcontroller each one of which is attached to a midi ring above the second knuckle of a hand. These sensors can track if the finger is flexed or not. With programming, different patterns of flexed fingers are evaluated on the microcontroller to a corresponding letter or number. This character is sent over to a connected Bluetooth chip to send it over a Bluetooth signal to an enabled smart device.

"Regeneron congratulates this year's Science Talent Search scholars, who have applied deep curiosity and rigorous research skills to the important scientific questions of today," said Hala Mirza, senior vice president of corporate communications and citizenship at Regeneron, a New York-based pharmaceuticals company that became the competition's sponsor in 2017.

Semifinalists will receive $2,000, as will their high school. Of that group, 40 will be announced as finalists before the end of the month, and they will receive a paid trip to Washington, D.C. in March to compete for $1.8 million in awards.

Shayna, the only student from Monmouth County, recognized this year by this program, is currently in her third year of Holmdel High School's Honors Advanced Research course, designed to engage students in high-level problem solving activities through original research and experimentation. Holmdel High School offers more than 20 courses in science, including the highly regarded Honors Advanced Research course.

Photo supplied to Patch by Holmdel High School