Walt Whitman and Montgomery Blair High School students won U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin’s (Md.-8th) 2025 Congressional App Challenge.
Whitman senior Ryan Chen, junior Kevin Xia, and Blair senior Peter Xiao won for developing an app called SafeStride, which helps blind people navigate any environment more safely and independently, according to Raskin’s office.
The app requires only a phone with a camera, analyzing the camera feed in real-time to identify safe walking ground.
“Kind of like Tesla’s full self-driving, it’ll map a path in front of you,” Xia told MCM. “And then we guide the users using AirPods.” So, if the user has to turn left to avoid an obstacle, a sound will ring in their left ear coming from the direction that they have to go toward.
The app was created as part of a University of Maryland summer program at the Universities at Shady Grove and is not publicly available. But, Xia says he, Chen and another classmate are now working on an AI cane that uses wheels, a motor, and a drone system to help blind people navigate.
Through the Congressional App Challenge, members of the House challenge students in their districts to develop an original app. Winning apps are featured on the House website, the Congressional App Challenge website, and displayed in a U.S. Capitol Building exhibit.
In last year’s challenge, Raskin announced Wheaton High School sophomore Ayden Yeung and Montgomery Blair High School sophomore Julian Givens as the winners for their “Better Buildings” app that helps students report problems with school facilities.
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