DUBAI // Two graduates of the University of Wollongong in Dubai have won a competition to create user-friendly apps for children with special needs.
Computer-science graduates Shawn Frank and Ronak Dave were the overall winners in two categories of the app-development contest, part of Samsung's Hope for Children programme.
Their Groomar app helps students learn how to clean their teeth, bathe and wash, while the Matchalon app teaches them to match and sequence items. Children at the centre have been using them on a trial basis.
"We knew we couldn't assume anything about usability when developing these kinds of apps, so it was a great feeling when we saw the children interacting with the app and working through the exercises just as we'd envisaged," Mr Frank said.
The charity, which donated about 100 tablet computers to Al Noor Training Centre in Dubai, launched the competition to find apps that would help the students' development.
The graduates, who were chosen from more than 180 contestants, said they had wanted to use their technical expertise for a community-based project.
Mr Frank said: "If even just one child's life is positively affected by something we do, then that is a great motivation to carry on."
mswan@thenational.ae
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Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
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Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
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Getting there
Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.
Staying there
On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.
More information: musee-armistice-14-18.fr ; compiegne-tourisme.fr; uk.france.fr
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