True AR Challenge & Hackathon

What is the True AR Challenge & Hackathon? It’s an online selection and onsite competition for developers and designers passionate about AR apps for cars.

What is the main idea behind the Challenge and Hackathon? The True AR Challenge is the online phase of the whole competition, where anyone can submit his/her idea. The best ideas will be selected and turned into a set of tasks for the True AR Hackathon, the offline phase, where developers and designers will team up to create working AR app prototypes using the brand-new True AR SDK by WayRay.

Why might I be interested in the Challenge and Hackathon? If you are passionate about augmented reality and want to be the first to try the upcoming True AR SDK by WayRay, the True AR Challenge & Hackathon is the right place for you. Join a global community of like-minded individuals, hone your coding or designing skills, and win up to $40,000.  

Who is eligible? All VR, AR, mobile app developers and UI/UX designers 18+ years of age, worldwide, including college students, indie creatives, studios and industry representatives — individuals and teams — who will be potentially available to attend the US-based Hackathon later this year. 

What are the prizes? Online challenge finalists will receive cash prizes of $2,000–$5,000. The top three hackathon winners will be granted $10,000–$40,000.

What are the judging criteria? Jury members will evaluate the material and assign a score (1–10) across three dimensions: creativity (how original is the AR app?), relevance (does the AR app serve a user need?), and design (did you put thought into the UI? Is the AR UI pleasant to look at?). An average score will be calculated. 

Who are the jury members? The jury board represents prominent academics, industry professionals, and technology leaders. 

How do I enter the contest? Register on the website, confirm your participation by responding to the email and follow the instructions.

What am I supposed to do with the downloads?  Fill out all fields of the PowerPoint template with your information, update the images by adding elements of your AR app interface, and save them as additional slides. Use the videos to create an animated version of your AR app interface. When editing the images and videos provided, make sure that you augment the real world and place graphics outside the car, not on the surface of the windshield. 

What are the requirements? Convert the PowerPoint file into a PDF and send it along with a link to your video(s) to sdkchallenge@wayray.com by May 30, 2018. Make sure that your email size does not exceed 25 MB.

Do I need to know how to program to participate? To participate in the True AR Challenge & Hackathon, you’ve got to be able to either design an AR app user interface or to code in C++ and GLSL. The True AR Challenge — the online idea phase — entails image and video editing, so no programming skills are required. But for the onsite Hackathon, non-programmers will be asked to team up with developers.    

Is there a charge to participate? Participation in the True AR Challenge and Hackathon is free of charge. The organizer, however, does not cover any travel or accommodation costs but will provide a lot of coffee, energy drinks, and good food to keep you up and running during the full Hackathon weekend.

What if I’m a developer and can’t format the images and/or the videos? You can collaborate with a designer via crowdforge.io and submit your ideas as a team.

What if I’m a designer and unable to code. Do I still have a chance to be shortlisted? Absolutely! If your ideas are shortlisted, you will go to the True AR Hackathon and team up with developers.

How do I know if I’m shortlisted? WayRay will notify the top finalists by June 30, 2018, by email.

What if I want to join as a team? That’s great! Form a group with your associates and apply as a team.

What if I don’t have a team yet? Not a problem — find collaborators at crowdforge.io.

Where and when will the hackathon weekend take place? WayRay is still figuring out the precise time and location, but most likely the event will be held in Q3, 2018, in California, USA. 

Who owns the rights to what we create? All submissions remain the intellectual property of the individuals or organizations that developed them. However, WayRay is allowed to share all the data provided under the True AR Challenge and Hackathon with all of the jury members, and list the winning ideas on its website.

What is the True AR SDK? The True AR SDK by WayRay is a set of libraries and tools for third-party developers to build AR apps for cars. The SDK includes the Holographic AR Display simulator, runs on Ubuntu 16.04 and supports C++ and GLSL. 

What are AR apps for cars? AR apps are applications that run on holographic AR displays built into automobiles and complementing the native AR interface. AR app content includes virtual objects seamlessly integrated into the world outside the car.