Automatic wins Rep. Steve Scalise’s 2022 Congressional App Challenge in Louisiana’s First District

When asked what inspired the creation of Automatic, the student said, ”During the season opener of my Sophomore baseball season, I collided with a teammate over a fly-ball miscommunication and fractured the Tibial Plateau in my left knee. Eight miserable weeks, isolated in my room and strapped in a brace from thigh to toe, left only thoughts and computers at my disposal. That never-ending period of time served as the commencement to my passion for programming and an inevitable unleash of creativity. 

By Junior year of high school, a computer lab full of brightly colored Mac-Book computers became my hot-spot. Then suddenly, on a random Tuesday, eating some Brother’s fried chicken in this computer lab, my vision came to fruition. What if the Apple Watch’s powerful motion sensors could recognize the wrist motion of a basketball shot?… and even train the users to become better shooters? In Summer 2022, I decided to work full-time as an elementary school camp counselor. Over this time, I saved up to purchase an Apple Watch for developing and received two advanced certifications in Swift and IOS development. My “pipe dream” had finally come to a start on July 8th, when I completed the very first prototype to analyze and observe specific changes and reactions in the motion sensors.

For the next two weeks, I spent my time at the local playground, gathering shot samples for the application. One day, after making fifty consecutive baskets, a stranger at the park yelled, “You’re Automatic!”. The perfect title for the project emerged: Automatic.”