The Seattle VR Hackathon returns!

It's been a crazy year in VR / AR. Oculus have released the first cheap fully self-contained VR device at $200, HTC have pushed the limit with the Vive Pro, and the AR headset market is booming with lots of new devices on the horizon.

Come join us for a weekend of creativity, innovation, and learning as we explore the potential of these technologies. The Hackathon is a great opportunity to learn, to meet new people, and to get hands-on experience with VR design and development. Over the course of just 48 hours, you'll be amazed at how much awesome stuff you and your team will be able to create!

What is a VR Hackathon?

A hackathon is a weekend-long event where people come together to make awesome stuff. It’s an amazing opportunity to meet awesome people and learn.

The VR hackathon focuses on rapidly evolving immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and 3D User Interfaces.

The VR hackathon isn't just about technology, however - it's about design, creation, and problem solving. If you have interest in art, graphics, 3D modelling, film, education, sound design, game design, or business, the VR hackathon will be an event you'll enjoy.

Who can participate?

The VR hackathon is open to everyone. We welcome artists, enthusiasts, UX designers, sound artists, software engineers, critics, researchers, film-makers, developers, game designers, testers, psychologists, industry professionals, and more. If you think VR and AR are cool, you are invited to attend.

You don't have to be an expert. The VR hackathon is a great introduction to working with VR and AR, and our organizers and workshop presenters are all dedicated to helping you no matter what your skill level. We welcome everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or background.

Younger attendees are welcome, too, but must have an adult present if they are younger than 16 years of age.

VR and AR are of great interest to many industries such as medicine, manufacturing, marketing, design, construction, and many more. If you have domain expertise in any field where immersive technologies might be useful, we would love to have you attend, as your insight is key in helping us to solve real problems, even if you've never worked with these technologies before.

How much does it cost?

Registration for the weekend costs $70 per attendee. All proceeds go to paying for food, the venue, and other expenses. Anything that's left goes into prizes and other stuff to make the event cooler.

This year we also have student tickets at a 30% discount ($50), sponsored by UW CoMotion. Students will need to provide proof of enrolment at a K-12 or accredited tertiary institution, or evidence of home-schooling in order to be admitted to the event.

We aim to run the event as close to cost as possible as we recognize that many people who would like to participate have limited budgets.

When and where?

The Seattle VR Hackathon will be hosted at the University of Washington's Center for Education and Research in Construction, a 25,000 square foot facility at Sand Point. For those who have been to past VR hackathons, this is the same location as usual.

The event will run over the weekend of September 14-16, 2018, starting 6pm Friday and ending 6pm Sunday.

Our schedule, below, is tentative at this stage, but unlikely to change significantly.

Schedule

Friday

• 6:00 PM - VR Mega-Mixer begins
• 7:30 PM - Hackathon Kickoff / Lightning Rounds / Team Formation
• Hack overnight

Saturday

• 9:00 AM - Registration / Breakfast
• 10:00 AM - Workshops Begin
• 1:00 PM - Lunch
• 2:30 PM - Walk Around the Park (optional exercise opportunity!)
• 7:00 PM - Dinner
• 11 PM - Late Night Snack
• Hack overnight

Sunday

• 9:00 AM - Breakfast
• 12:00 PM - Lunch
• 1:00 PM - Hacking Concludes / Judging Begins
• 3:00 PM - Hacker Expo Begins
• 5:00 PM - Prizegiving
• 6:00 PM - Doors Close

Teams are welcome to begin work on Friday night or wait until first thing Saturday morning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to know how to program to come to this event?

No! We welcome anyone with an interest in working on VR and immersive technology projects. People with skill in art, sound, and design are in especially high demand throughout the weekend.

Do I need my own VR headset?

No! That said, if you have one, you should bring it.

Many members of our community have equipment of their own that they bring and make available over the weekend. We will make available additional equipment as we are able, depending on what our sponsors are willing to provide.

Remember, though, simple VR applications will run on a smartphone with a simple static headset (such as Google Cardboard or Merge VR) and can be quite compelling, and these devices are how many people are first experiencing VR. These headsets are very easy to work with and cheap to obtain online.

Another option is get yourself an Oculus Go - these units are fully self-contained and cost just $200 on Amazon. There are several other options out there if you have time to do some research.

Note that certain VR equipment, particularly the Vive, has a tendency to interfere with other similar units nearby. As a result, we may be forced to limit the number of Vives deployed. Come prepared with an alternative if you think this might affect you.

What should I bring?

• A computer: If you have a gaming PC, this would be a good choice, as VR runs best on machines with dedicated graphics cards. If you don’t have one, don’t worry - you can achieve an awful lot with a regular entry-level laptop. Even if you don’t have a computer, you’re welcome to participate, as there are many aspects of design that don’t involve working on the computer. We may be able to provide loaner computers to those who need them.
• Extension cords and power strips: Please bring your own. We have a few to loan out, but please come prepared.
• Computer mouse: Working in Unity or Unreal on a laptop trackpad might make you cry
• Headphones: Sound forms an important part of every VR experience, and if you want to listen to music while you work, you will need to use headphones.
• Spare chargers: In case your friends/teammates forget their own!
• Pens, paper, and other drawing supplies: It's always helpful to have something write on while you're doing design work.
• Pillows/blankets/sleeping bags (if you plan to stay overnight)
• Toothbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant: Please, for the sake of everyone else, bring and use these.

Remember to properly label any equipment that you bring with your name. We will not assume liability for any equipment that is lost or stolen over the weekend. If you do lose something, though, let us know, and we'll do what we can to help you find it. If you find something, bring it to us and we'll try and find out who to return it to.

We do our best to obtain items for teams to borrow, but we aren't able to make guarantees about what will be available as these items are loaned to us from sponsors who generally can't confirm what they can loan us until close to the last minute. If at all possible, you should bring your own gear. If you can't, you can still do a lot with a whiteboard and some markers, and those we have lots of!

Is the venue ADA compliant?

Yes. The venue is accessible by ramp on the ground level, and by elevator to the upper level, though this elevator is not as convenient as we'd like it to be.

If you think that you may have special needs around accessibility, please reach out to us so that we can work with you to ensure that your experience at the hackathon is smooth and problem-free.

Do I need to have a particular project to work on?

No! You can just come along and see what happens. In fact, we encourage this.

There are always people with ideas for projects that you can join. Similarly, if you have an idea but need someone to help you with it, there will be people there with skills that you can leverage.

Can I bring a project I’m already working on?

Yes, you can. If you do, however, you won’t be eligible for prizes, as that wouldn't be fair to teams that are building their entire project over the weekend. Exceptions may be made if you’re working on a distinct sub-project that builds on something else you've built in the past.

Talk to the Organizers onsite if you're unsure. All of that said, a big part of the hackathon ethos is the collaboration that occurs when people come together to create something new, so we don’t recommend this approach.

How do I learn about developing for VR?

There are many ways to learn. If you’re a self-starter, there are excellent tutorials available online - you can pick an engine such as Unity or Unreal and work through their tutorials and examples to get a good entry-level understanding of development.

We'll have mentors onsite at the hackathon who can guide you through whatever problems or questions you may have.

What are the prize categories?

Our prize categories have not been announced yet, but will be announced in the Seattle VR / AR Facebook group when we have them confirmed. Prize amounts will be announced at the Friday Mixer.

What workshops will be available?

We are working with our sponsors and local experts to put on workshops and other programming both before and during the event. Look out for posts from us with more information.

How can I get more involved?

There are a number of ways you can get more involved in the Seattle VR hackathon and the wider Seattle VR community prior to the hackathon!

If you'd like to help out with the hackathon, contact us at hackathon@seattlevr.us or reach out to us via the Seattle VR Facebook or Slack groups.

If you want to learn about other community events and mixers leading up to the hackathon, check out seattlevr.us for more information.

Hackathon Rules

Specific rules for the hackathon will be announced during Opening Ceremonies, and are subject to change at that time. Further rules changes may occur throughout the weekend in response to questions and emerging issues. Such changes will be announced if and when they occur.

The following rules have been set at this time:

• Teams may have a maximum size of 8 members, excluding mentors and roving participants that assist multiple teams such as voice actors, composers, and other specialists.
• Teams may use content from third-party sources such as the asset store provided that the judges are provided with all details of this use during judging.
• Teams may use content from their own prior existing projects provided that they clear this use with the event organizers. This is to ensure that all teams have access to a similar pool of resources.
• Teams must register using the forms provided on Saturday evening in order to be eligible for prizes.
• Projects must be produced on-site at the hackathon. The organizers will make exceptions to this rule for teams that require other environments, for example, for filming a 360 scene outdoors.
• Announcements will be made using the event's Slack channel. Though attempts will be made to inform teams of any announcements in person, this is not guaranteed. It is the responsibility of each team to monitor the Slack channel for any important information.

Teams will be allocated work spaces on Friday night, depending on their needs. We will provide pipe & drape and to act as a barrier between team workspaces in order to prevent interference between equipment.

Code of Conduct

We, the Seattle VR Hackathon Organizers, are committed to making the VR Hackathon a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or technical expertise (or lack of any of the aforementioned).

We will not tolerate harassment of any kind. Harassment may include verbal abuse, sexually explicit or derogatory language, offensive or sexual cartoons or materials, mimicry, offensive gestures, unwelcome sexual advances, and telling of jokes offensive to others in the community. In general, sexual advances of any kind are considered unwelcome by default and are not appropriate at this event.

Drugs and alcohol are not permitted on site. Individuals who appear intoxicated or otherwise under the influence of drugs or alcohol will be asked to leave the event until they have recovered.

If, in the eyes of the Organizers, a hackathon participant is seen to have violated these rules, they may be warned, sanctioned, or asked to leave the hackathon without a refund (if applicable). In other words, just do the following: be aware of your actions and their effects on others; don’t treat the hackathon like a dating sim; and, in general, be nice to one another.

Intellectual Property

The following terms apply to participation in this event (the "Hackathon"). Attendees may create original solutions, prototypes, datasets, scripts, or other content, materials, discoveries or inventions (a “Submission”). The Hackathon is organized by the Seattle Immersive Technology Association (the "Hackathon Organizer").

Entrants retain ownership of all intellectual and industrial property rights (including moral rights) in and to Submissions.

As a condition of submission, Entrant grants the Hackathon Organizer, its subsidiaries, agents and partner companies, a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, adapt, modify, publish, distribute, publicly perform, create a derivative work from, and publicly display the Submission.

Entrants provide Submissions on an “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Refund Policy

We will refund your ticket if we receive your request to do so at least 7 days before the event. We may, at our discretion, give late refunds in extreme circumstances if we are able to re-sell your ticket.

Contacting Us

For more information about the event, or for any other questions, drop us a line at hackathon@seattlevr.us.

We look forward to seeing you!