The light and dark blues have found new competitive pursuit that doesn't involve rowing down The Thames, or fighting in the Twickenham mud -- innovation.
It is a sign of the times when young entrepreneurs from two of England's oldest seats of learning fight it out for the honour of their university without indulging in some pointless physical pursuit. The Varsity Pitch competition, sponsored by NESTA, 3i and Microsoft among others, was a face off between three teams from Oxford and three from Cambridge.
Judged by someone famous on the telly, a survivor (just) of the dot-com boom and bunch of other experts, the competition handed out £5000 to the winner and two £2500 prizes to a runner up from each uni.
The top prize went to TouchSight from Cambridge, who have, it says in the press release, "developed a unique mobility aid for the blind and visually impaired. The glove-based system, called the TouchSight Vision Mitt, enables the user to 'sense' their surroundings using ultrasonic sensors and vibration feedback actuators, providing a low cost alternative or supplement to guide dogs or white sticks".
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