Matlhogonolo and Masego Mphahlele are the Red Bull Basement South Africa representatives who will showcase their innovative digital x-ray glasses at the global workshop taking place from 13 – 15 December 2021.
The twin sisters from Hammanskraal beat 125 other applicants in this year’s local application phase of Red Bull Basement. Red Bull Basement is a global initiative to discover new innovations by university students and showcase them to a global audience. The aim of the competition is to inspire innovative tech ideas that can drive positive change in their local communities.
The twins’ idea for digital x-ray glasses first took seed in early 2019, when they were playing soccer. One of their teammates broke her leg and they accompanied her to the hospital. Unfortunately, when they got to the hospital there had been a car accident which meant their friend had to wait for nearly four hours before she could get her x-rays done.
So while we were sitting in the waiting room with their injured friends, the twins thought: ‘We wish there was a device that can do an x-ray of a human on the spot. Something fast and quick – a mobile one!’ The idea for the digital x-ray glasses was born.
Matlhogonolo dreams to one day become a commercial airline pilot and is looking to hopefully start her training next year, while sister Masego is currently doing a cabin crew course. After she has completed her studies and training, she dreams of working as a flight attendant for Emirates or Etihad.
The sisters both believe that working together as twins have been a huge advantage. “Working with my twin is the biggest blessing ever! We have a lot in common and she understands me,” says Matlhogonolo. Masego agrees and adds “We workshop a lot of ideas together, we’ve always been proactive and tried many things – from modeling to acting and inventing – we spend most of our time together and it just makes it all easier.”
Matlhongonolo and Masego will be showcasing their innovation amongst 30 other countries at the Red Bull Basement Global Workshop from 13 – 15 December. The global workshop will be taking place in Turkey with the twins showcasing it online from South Africa.
