22 Oct 2024
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Rahel Demant
AWE at the Global XR Hack!
AWE and XR Hack: Empowering the Next Generation of XR Creators
Recently, AWE partnered with XR Hack, the largest global XR hackathon ever organized. Over 520 hackers from 32 countries joined us across four cities, pushing the boundaries of XR development. The hackathon encouraged participants to develop projects using Meta’s latest tools, including the Presence Platform, Building Blocks, AI-tool Kit released by XR Bootcamp, and the Logitech MR Stylus Pen.
XR Hack was hosted in:
- London (August 14-16, 2024, PwC UK, Local Prize Pool: £17,000)
- Stockholm (September 6-8, 2024, Epicenter Stockholm, Local Prize Pool: €12,500)
- Istanbul (September 6-8, 2024, BUG Lab TEKMER, Local Prize Pool: $9,000)
- Cologne (August 18-20, 2024, Startplatz Medienpark, Local Prize Pool: €12,500)
AWE provided the winning teams with free tickets to AWE Europe in Vienna, allowing the teams to pitch their projects to industry leaders, and gain exposure to the broader XR community. This opportunity underscores AWE’s dedication to fostering talent and innovation in XR.
In just 48 hours, over 120 apps and games were created, many of which leveraged AI and mixed reality to craft innovative experiences. On average, the participants had about 3 years of experience with Unity/XR, and those who were new to MR Development took a free Udemy course. (not only for hackers, if you’re interested in learning Mixed Reality Development for free, sign up here).
Key Achievements from XR Hack
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Why has XR Hack partnered with Photon, ShapesXR, Logitech, Pearson, and Mattercraft?
XR Hack has quickly become one of the most exciting hackathons in the XR community. It brings together brilliant minds to tackle the biggest challenges in immersive tech. Many partners need to get together to achieve such an event and especially provide hackers with the support they need.
For Photon, their goal was to support developers as they created some innovative multi-user apps, games, and tools. Their team was present in Cologne and London, mentoring hackers on-site, but they also gave a free multi and received great feedback to improve Photon’s developer tools further.
Luke Stampfli, Head of Developer Relations, Photon: "Making a Multiplayer game is one of the most complex challenges studios face. Making it in VR adds even more complexity to that. So when I saw what the hackers achieved in one weekend using Fusion, Photon’s Samples, and Meta’s Building Blocks, I was astounded. What used to take months of backbreaking work is now possible in just a few days. And thanks to the great organization and support during the event, the teams could focus on their projects without any distractions."
ShapesXR was the tool for validating XR Prototype ideas and submitting projects to the juries! The famous Gabriele Romagnoli participated in the XR Hack in Cologne and gave a live online workshop about how to use ShapesXR exclusively for hackers! Now, it’s also available online; check it out!
Logitech supported Hackers with The MX Ink. At that time, the pens had not yet been released, which gave hackers the fantastic opportunity to test a device before anyone else. Winners of the Logitech Category were also allowed to take their own devices back home.
Pearson, famous in the VR world because of their language learning VR app, supported hackers with their challenge category! Hackers were challenged to Re-imagine formal education by making lessons and exams fully experiential with the power of AI and MR.
| Ilya Gogin, Director of Product, Pearson: |
| "We were blown away by the quality of projects all the hacking teams developed in 48 hours. The polish we’ve seen with some teams like HoloSign or Wonky Bots was mind-blowing. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet so many talented XR professionals and enthusiasts. While some were generally excited by the XR industry, some hackers were motivated by the chance XR has for education. Some have contacted us at Pearson, seeking ways to work with us. In the coming weeks, we’re planning to contact more XR hackers from the event as well as other sponsoring companies, including Meta." |
Mattercraft also provided its own challenge category, focusing on all experiences created with the well-known tool. The winning team won 4000 GBP for their idea in London!
| Dave Mather, Head of Marketing, Mattercraft: |
| "We loved being part of XR Hack London this year as one of the key sponsors. We worked with them to create a specialist WebXR category for developers and non-developers alike looking to leverage the power and flexibility of the web. Overall, the quality of the WebXR projects produced was fantastic. We've already promoted the entrants in a blog on our site, and a follow-up case study is planned for our winners. We'll be looking to partner with XR Hack next year." |
Unique Projects were hacked together in 48 hours
Even though all projects prototyped were great (look at all winning projects here), we want to take the opportunity to highlight some of the most creative and most excellent projects here:
1. Holosign
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2. Chameleon
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3. Saifer
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4. Elephound
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A special shout-out to Lukas Martinic and his winning prototype, Color-picker! His app not only amazed our jury in Stockholm but also went viral on LinkedIn, with almost 1,000 likes!
| Additionally, Wonky Bots, a physics-based robot-building game, has already been added to the Meta Horizon Store, demonstrating the high caliber of projects produced at the event. |  |
Short Stories from XR Hack
| The famous Tipatat Chennavasin, Co-founder and GP at The Venture Reality Fund, was invited to join XR Hack as a judge. However, once he arrived at XR Hack in Cologne, he decided to hack instead of judge. It was a good decision, as his team’s 3D Spatial Editing and Visualization app won not only one but two prizes! |  |
It's a similar story for Steve Lucas
He was also invited to serve on the jury, but he immediately decided he wanted to become a hacker on-site!
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Conclusion: Join AWE in Vienna and meet XR Hack Winners!
As AWE, we’re proud to have enabled such a significant event. We look forward to welcoming over 143 XR Hack Hackers at AWE in Vienna. So, if you want to meet XR Hack winner teams at AWE, you must register! Don’t wait, it’s happening from Oct 29-30!
