Can a three-minute WhatsApp video help workers learn without interrupting their work? Can a smartphone warn commuters about potholes and waterlogged roads before they encounter them? Can an AI-powered wearable help people with Parkinson’s remain active and independent?

Three teams from Tamil Nadu—4 Percentage, JARVISS and Rogue—are attempting to turn these possibilities into reality. Their ideas have now taken them to the Top 20 of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026.

Through MicroLearning AI, SafePath AI and NeuroStride, nine young innovators from Chennai and Coimbatore are using artificial intelligence, sensors and wearable technology to solve everyday problems in workplace learning, road safety and healthcare.

Learning on the Shopfloor—in Just Three Minutes

For Sajith J, Mithran B and Kavin Nanadha M K of Coimbatore-based team 4 Percentage, the challenge was clear: conventional training programmes can be difficult to fit into the schedules of factory and frontline workers.

Their solution, MicroLearning AI, converts complex information into short, two-to-three-minute learning videos that can be delivered through WhatsApp in workers’ native languages. The platform is designed to make workplace learning easier to access, understand and complete without requiring employees to step away from their jobs for extended periods.

By combining AI with the familiarity of WhatsApp and regional-language content, the team hopes to make training more practical for workers across industries.

Helping Commuters See Road Hazards Before They Reach Them

Chennai-based team JARVISS, comprising Sanjay Kumaar, G B Aswindbaghat and Varunprasath K, is developing SafePath AI to help commuters navigate potholes, waterlogged roads and other hazards more safely.

The platform uses smartphone and IoT sensor data to detect road hazards, assess their severity and recommend safer routes. It is also being designed to alert the relevant authorities, creating the potential for quicker identification and resolution of unsafe road conditions.

Rather than asking commuters to react after encountering a pothole or flooded stretch, JARVISS wants to give them useful information before they reach it—turning everyday smartphones into tools for safer mobility.

Using AI to Support People with Parkinson’s

For Chennai-based team Rogue, the challenge is deeply human: helping people with Parkinson’s manage involuntary tremors while retaining greater independence in their daily lives.
Team members Manoj Kumar Kasinathan, Jena R and Chriswin William D are developing NeuroStride, an AI-powered wearable designed to distinguish involuntary Parkinson’s tremors from intentional muscle movement. The device then seeks to provide targeted electrical stimulation to support more controlled movement.

The team’s larger ambition is to develop an accessible, non-invasive solution that can help people with Parkinson’s perform everyday activities with greater confidence.

The three Tamil Nadu teams are among the 20 finalists selected from across India under the fifth edition of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow. More than half of this year’s Top 20 participants come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, reflecting how youth-led innovation is expanding beyond India’s traditional technology hubs.

The finalists will receive continued mentorship from Samsung experts and the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer at IIT Delhi. The support will help them refine their prototypes, validate their solutions and strengthen their understanding of product development, scalability, business strategy and market readiness.

Each Top 20 team will receive INR 1 lakh for prototype development, while every participant will receive a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip smartphone. Four winning teams—one from each programme theme—will collectively receive INR 2 crore in incubation grants from Samsung through FITT-IIT Delhi.

For 4 Percentage, JARVISS and Rogue, reaching the national stage is an opportunity to take solutions shaped by problems close to home and prepare them for a much larger impact. Their journeys show that transformative innovation can begin with something as familiar as a WhatsApp video, a difficult commute or the everyday struggle to complete a simple movement.