How to win the MIT XR Hackathon "Reality Virtually"

The MIT hackathon was an incredible experience. Just coming back to Europe, I still feel the excitement and the adrenaline in my veins.

As VR First, we have been organizing many hackathons, but this one was the first one I experienced which hosted 450 hackers! It was awesome and I learned that sometimes, bigger is better!

Arriving full of respect in front of this honorable institution, would I be able to communicate with all these supersmart people? Once i arrived, i was relaxed by the fact to see that MIT toilets are just as dirty as the average university ones, - no superhumans there ;)

One of my core values has always been that I want to bring people together - creating opportunities for people to be together, share, discuss and create - activities which are often not enough appreciated in today’s world. That’s all what a hackathon is about! Hence, making me super happy :) Especially for developers due to the nature of their work it is valuable to get an opportunity to exchange ideas and socialize away from their office PCs.

Let me share why I think you should go to #RealityVirtuallyHack at MIT in Boston in 2020!

• Sheer size: almost 450 people in one place with a common background, common values and shared goals creates an incredible energy which is unmatched. As VR First, we did our best to promote #RealityVirtuallyHack and invited our international community to participate. As travel cost was the factor that hindered those staying at home to join, we are looking forward to an expansion of the travel grant program for the years to come - democratizing VR/AR even more!
• Diversity: from under 18 year old students to hacking women in their 60s, Everyone was welcomed, and everyone learned, shared and participated. The woman participation rate of 40% was truly surprising and inspiring! There was even a slack group for introverts - for those feeling awkward being forced to network 24/7.
• Some mentors showed incredible commitment: From 7 AM to midnight, the experts helped, mentored, solved problems and gave advice - way beyond the usual office hours one might expect from company employees! As one participant mentioned

‘Problems that would alone take weeks to solve, can be solved in a few hours when the right people with the right skillsets come together.'

• The equipment: from 15 Magic Leap Ones, to Mixed Reality Headsets for everyone, to HTC Vives and Oculus; each project was able to find the equipment they needed to test their experiences. Even more so, there was enough time to play Beatsaber tournaments and test the different Magic Leap One Apps in different areas of the venue.
• The spirit: Even though there were logistical problems, housing was expensive and food limited at times, the focus was on creating amazing XR experiences, networking and learning.
• The workshops: All companies made the effort to send experts explaining the most important things to know about their SDKs and products. As things are evolving rapidly and new SDKs are being released every month, this was invaluable support to teams that might have learned to develop with certain devices years ago and needed a touch up on their skills. The impressive workshop schedule before the hack started:

All in all - I recommend anyone to participate in this hackathon, even as a volunteer - you will win, from positive energy, new friends, to new skills. You will go home as a winner ;)!

How about organizing a similar Hackathon in Europe? Let me know if you are interested in organizing one of similar scale!