Muhammad Ali once said that he was so fast, that he turned off the light switch in his hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark, but with new wireless technology created by Cambodian entrepreneurs, you can be even faster.

Wired-to-be-wireless, the Magic House, which went on show at last weekend’s Barcamp technology festival, is almost entirely controlled by Bluetooth, meaning that the user can be in bed before turning-off the light switch/tapping on your phone.

Last weekend’s Barcamp, hosted by the University of Puthisastra, was a testament to the Kingdom’s continued growth in the field and a chance for members of the local tech-community to plug in and exchange ideas about the future.

Over 1,000 tech-lovers attended the two-day event that allowed enterprising inventors and developers to feature their ideas and projects to potential investors.

For 22-year-old Hor Sophanna, the Barcamp provided his technology team, ArrowDot the exposure that it needed.

The team which consists of students and graduates from the Institute of Technology of Cambodia, aims to design and develop everyday technology for local consumers.

This year, ArrowDot showcased its progress in Bluetooth development with two new designs, the Magic House and the WorldE robot. Engineered at the Smallworld collaborative workplace, the two prototypes can be conveniently controlled from an Android-powered device through Bluetooth 2.0.

As imaginative and practical as the team may be, their design was not without problems.

“We are young with not much working experience,” said Sophanna. “We lacked resources like financial support and materials that are hard to find in the country, plus they are expensive to afford. We struggled creating these products.”

Material costs were kept low through the use of recycled materials.

In addition to showcasing Cambodia’s technological talents, the Barcamp also linked budding engineers, programmers and inventors with Cambodia’s leading business people.

“Participants had a good chance of getting jobs in the future, because they came across a thousand of people who could be business owners, professionals, and also those with new ideas who wish to start up their own businesses,” said Chhaly Samsokrith, who organised the event.

“Barcamp Phnom Penh helps make the many dreams of geeks and tech addicts come true through the freedom of sharing and participation,” said Pongsametrey Sok, projects manager in software development at Nokor Group, a Phnom Penh-based software developer.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lionel Mok at [email protected]