In Brief: Texas State hosts Innovation Lab during SXSW Interactive

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
Office of Media Relations
March 8, 2017

Texas State University will host the Innovation Lab and reception during the South by Southwest Interactive Festival 6:30-8 p.m. March 12.

The event will take place at the W Austin Hotel in Austin.

Attendees will get an exclusive look at game-changing technology created by Texas State's inspired student inventors, and also see how corporate partners are helping to take these new ideas to the marketplace. From biometric authentication and virtual reality to recyclable fabric and apps to help resolve child obesity issues, Texas State student research is solving real-world problems.

The Texas State Innovation Lab is open to all SXSW Interactive badge holders and Texas State’s special guests (reservation required for entry).

Texas State Innovation Lab teams include:

  • Biometric Authentication and Eye Fatigue Detection Using Eye Movements    
    College of Science and Engineering, Department of Computer Science
    The team’s advanced sensor tracks the user’s unique eye movements to provide better digital security than passwords or even fingerprint IDs. Eye movements can also be used to measure fatigue and tell users when to take a break from a video game or warn a driver that it’s time to pull over.
  • ecoBOLT Fabrics – Feel the Future
    Ingram School of Engineering, Department of Materials Science, Engineering and Commercialization
    Utilizing no water and only two chemicals to produce innovative biodegradable, recyclable, water repellent fabrics, the team’s product can be used to manufacture everyday apparel. Consumers can donate clothing items back to ecoBOLT to be reused and create new clothing items. Feel the fabric of the future.
  • Nabaco: A Novel Coating Technique
    Ingram School of Engineering, Department of Material Science and Engineering and Commercialization
    Nabaco has found a cost-saving solution to prevent water vapor and oxygen from leaking into packages and fruit. The raw materials used for a novel coating technique are transparent and have excellent barrier properties to prevent permeation and protect products from deterioration such as corrosion, rot, moisture absorption, drying and oxidation. Patented and FDA-approved, the novel coating is flame retardant and can be applied to fresh fruit for safe consumption.
  • Internet of Things
    Three projects showcase the Internet of Things, a system of computing devices with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network. The portable and battery-operated Smart Weather Station can easily monitor microclimate conditions in a smart city or rural area or an indoor environment using wireless transmission techniques. Gridmates provides a cloud platform that connects givers of energy with people in need. Another project focuses on Finding a vehicle due to theft by combining sensors, GPS locators and other smart devices wirelessly to data and telecom infrastructure.
  • App-Abling: Mobile Apps to Resolve Child Obesity Issues
    School of Art and Design
    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, child obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. To resolve child obesity issues, the App-Abling team, in partnership with Upstream, an Austin-based design consulting firm, proposes a series of mobile applications to help children with obesity problems and to provide a tool for parents and social workers.
  • Online Commuting Cost Calculation Tool
    McCoy College of Business
    This team aims to establish a connection in commuting and traffic tying it to drivers’ bank accounts and the environment. Armed with a commuting database and maps, the calculation tool hits drivers with the true cost of commuting to and from work with individual cars and could convince more people to seek alternate modes of transportation, such as Wi-Fi-equipped buses, and businesses could invest in a small fleet of cars for employees. The impact is limitless.
  • Texas Education Atlas
    College of Liberal Arts
    The atlas is a comprehensive, interactive, web-based research and learning tool, compiling data from every Texas school district and public and private university in Texas, with tools to suit K-12 students as well as policymakers, researchers and journalists.
  • Attention Driver! A Simulation
    School of Social Work
    This educational and potentially life-saving virtual reality experience highlights the dangers of distracted driving. Using a smartphone and the Oculus Rift-powered simulator triggers potential accidents in realistic driving scenarios.

For more information, contact Jose Beceiro, director of corporate and strategic partnerships, at (512) 245-8215 or jbeceiro@txstate.edu. 

About Texas State University

Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of 38,849 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State’s 170,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world. Designated an Emerging Research University by the State of Texas, Texas State is classified under “Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity,” the second-highest designation for research institutions under the Carnegie classification system.