The WeAgain team, made up of first‑year students at UDIT, has emerged as one of the winners of the international hackathon OdiseIA4Good 2026, dedicated to developing Artificial Intelligence solutions with practical applications for vulnerable groups.
Between 20 and 21 years old, the students Hugo Osma, Carlos Parra, Manuel Bayo, Alejandro Blanco, and Gonzalo Sánchez demonstrated their talent in this tech challenge driven by OdiseIA, the Observatory of the Social and Ethical Impact of Artificial Intelligence.
The jury recognized the potential of Medscan, the solution developed by these students, for its ability to improve the lives of older adults through Artificial Intelligence. The mobile application allows identifying medications from a photo of their packaging and providing clear, accessible information about their administration, reducing errors and strengthening the user’s autonomy.
The OdiseIA4Good 2026 edition saw record participation: 112 teams registered, more than triple the previous year, of which 88 reached the finals and 39 competed in person, with representation from all five continents. In total, the organization awarded six initiatives that demonstrate how artificial intelligence can become a tangible tool to improve inclusion, accessibility, and social prevention.
An application that “talks” to medications
The Medscan project starts from a simple premise: photograph the box of a medication to turn its patient information leaflet into a conversation that is understandable.
The application identifies the medication using optical character recognition (OCR) and accesses the database to retrieve its official information. Based on that information, it integrates the leaflet into an AI-powered assistant that responds in natural language to the user’s questions.
The system also has a key reliability feature: the assistant does not connect to the Internet to generate responses, and is limited exclusively to the information contained in the official packaging insert.
Among its functionalities, the app allows users to ask how to take the medication, what contraindications it has, or what precautions to consider in case of other ailments. It also includes text-to-speech, a feature designed to improve accessibility for people with visual impairments.
During the hackathon itself, the team broadened the initial scope of the project. After analyzing the legal implications of handling health data in a home setting, they decided to explore its application in senior living communities and adult day care centers.
In these environments, where medication management is still often done manually, Medscan could bring traceability, automatic reminders, and centralized supervision of treatments. The app would enable dose scheduling, generate alerts when confirmations are not received, and offer a global view of multiple patients from a single dashboard.
In addition to the recognition earned at the hackathon, the team has been awarded an advanced startup communication program, aimed at fundraising and access to capital. Through specialized mentoring, they will work on building a solid investor narrative, refining their pitch, and training for presentations before potential investors.
