Summary
Eight innovators from four Indian states have taken five sports- and health-focused technology ideas into Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026’s Top 20. The projects range from swimmer-alert wearables to an AI platform for identifying para-athletes.
Eight young innovators from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Odisha have advanced five sports- and health-focused technology ideas to the Top 20 of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026. The projects, described by Samsung as works in development, use AI, sensors and wearables to address challenges including swimming independently with visual impairment, exercise support for people with Parkinson’s and athlete monitoring.
The Top 20 spans 18 cities across 12 states, and Samsung says more than half of its participants come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. The eight innovators profiled are part of that wider national cohort.
Five ideas for safer, more accessible sport
Two projects focus on swimming. Pasupuleti Ruthvik, 21, from Chittoor, is developing Untethered, a wearable sensor system intended to alert visually impaired swimmers as they approach a pool wall. The goal is to reduce reliance on coaches’ manual cues during training. Kolla Venkata Siva Surya, 16, from Visakhapatnam, has developed a separate assistive system that gives swimmers feedback when they begin to drift from their lane’s intended path.
In Sundargarh, Vatala Harika, 21, and Ritesh Routray, 20, are developing ParaSync, an AI-based platform intended to assess adaptive sporting techniques, identify potential para-athletes and connect them with coaching and competition opportunities. It is aimed at a scouting challenge: people with sporting potential may live beyond established networks for coaching and competition.
Three Chennai-based innovators—Manoj Kumar Kasinathan, 21, Jena R, 20, and Chriswin William D, 20—are working on Rogue, a wearable for people with Parkinson’s. The team is exploring whether sensors can distinguish intentional movement from involuntary tremors, with the aim of supporting safer exercise and physical activity.
Homanshika Reddy Pullagurla, 21, from Hyderabad, is developing Somatrace, an IoT-enabled wearable intended to track spinal load among athletes in precision sports. Its aim is to show athletes how physical load changes with movement during training.
Together, the projects apply technology to different problems: navigation and injury risk in swimming, talent identification, movement support and monitoring physical strain. Their intended functions vary, and the announcement describes development goals rather than reported performance results.
Mentoring and the next stage
The innovators have taken part in a prototyping programme with FITT-IIT Delhi, including an Innovation Bootcamp and online mentorship from Samsung experts. The programme covered prototype development, user needs, potential impact, scalability and go-to-market planning. Participants also visited Samsung offices and research and design facilities in Delhi, Noida, Bengaluru and Gurugram.
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is in its fifth edition in India. The 2026 programme has four themes, including Sport & Tech, and is moving towards its final stages. Four winning teams are due to receive a combined INR 2 crore in incubation grants, along with incubation support from FITT-IIT Delhi to refine and validate their solutions and explore their potential as ventures.