After 36 hours of continuous competition, the FocusIQ project - an intelligent exam preparation system integrated with electroencephalography (EEG) analysis - secured first place at the LotusHacks 2026 artificial intelligence programming competition.

The event concluded on March 22 in Ho Chi Minh City, with more than 1,000 programmers completing the challenge. This year’s competition focused on applying AI to solve real-world problems across four key areas: Enterprise, Education Technology, Social and Mobility, and Technology and Consumer.

The winning project, FocusIQ, developed a smart learning system that combines AI models with wearable EEG devices to analyze students’ brainwave data in real time. According to the team, the system can assess levels of concentration and detect fatigue, automatically adjusting study pathways and intensity to optimize individual learning efficiency.

Second place went to “Tiny-detective”, an Agentic AI system designed to scan, identify and classify counterfeit or copyright-infringing products on e-commerce platforms in Vietnam. Meanwhile, the COCO learning platform took third prize with an idea that integrates AI into video content, enabling children to interact directly rather than passively consume material.

LotusHacks 2026 was co-organized by GenAI Fund and international partner HackHarvard. According to the organizers, the event attracted more than 1,500 registrations from 30 countries, with Vietnamese participants accounting for 60 percent. The total value of prizes and support packages - including cash, cloud credits and mentorship - reached nearly US$1 million.

A notable feature of the competition was that teams were not free to choose their own topics. Instead, they were required to tackle nearly 150 real-world challenges posed by major companies through the organizers’ platform. Projects were evaluated by a panel of judges that included experts from OpenAI, AWS and representatives of leading enterprises.

Speaking about the competition’s direction, Laura Nguyen, Director of GenAI Fund, emphasized that selecting the right problem to solve is crucial, as the goal is to create solutions that are not only innovative but also capable of real-world application and long-term development.

Following the competition, participating teams will have opportunities to access a global network of mentors and investment capital to develop their projects into potential startups. According to organizers, the long-term vision of LotusHacks is to position Vietnam as a rising hub for artificial intelligence in the region.

Du Lam