IVRC Immerse-a-thon

Show off your hacking skills at the Idaho Virtual Reality Council's inaugural Immerse-a-thon - a virtual reality hackathon hosted at Boise State's GIMM Lab.  

Compete for bragging rights and big prizes from HTC, Unity, and others.

Event Theme - Dreaming in VR

The theme of the Immerse-a-thon is vague on purpose.  This allows competitors to have a bit of freedom in what they create and allows people from the community to identify hackers with specific talents and skill sets.

Cost - Free

Prizes

1.  Unity Pro Licenses

2.  HTC Dev. Kits

3.  An opportunity to show off your project to hundreds of people during our VR Bash at the Knitting Factory on October 19th.

Registered Participants Get

1.  Food and drink

2.  A t-shirt

Schedule

This is not an overnite event.  Check-in will begin at 8:00 am on Friday the 14th and hackers will go home that evening.  The event will begin again on Saturday the 15th at 10:00 am.

A hard schedule will be posted in the coming weeks with a complete breakdown of the event timeline. 

The Fine Print

1. Hardware/Software requirements

   • Each team should have at least one computer with an i7 processor or an equivalent.
   • A GPU capable of running Unity
   • A functioning copy of Unity Game Engine

2. Judging Process and Criteria

   • Your team’s project will not be eligible for advancement in the contest unless it meets the following criteria;
     • It is a presentable product (not a Powerpoint or verbal presentation)
     • Your team can explain how your project fits in with the events theme.
   • Projects will be judged by the following
     • How awesome and unique your idea is in regards to the parameters of the hackathon
     • How close your project is to becoming an actual product
     • Your presentation skills?
     • How difficult was your project to create?  (If you just reskinned an API and changed the content, that’s less difficult than if you created your own project from scratch.

3. Not Your Average Hackathon

   • This isn’t just a hackathon, this is an Immerse-a-thon.  This is our special way of telling you that the event will be geared towards immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented realities.  So be prepared to create projects that can be tested and showcased on VR head mounted displays.

4. Be Civil, Be Friendly, Be Awesome

   • You are developers and contributors to what is perhaps one of the most exciting and impactful technologies ever created.  As pioneers it is up to you to promote the industry and encourage more people to enter the space.  It is on all of us to cultivate a spirit of diversity that is accepting of hackers of every race, sexual orientation, religion, gender, and ability level.  Any conduct that is contrary to this will result in the disqualification of the hacker from the event and his/her removal from the premises.  So please use this event as an opportunity to teach, learn, build, fail, succeed, and most of all, have fun!

5. We Want Something New, Original, and Exciting

   • Don’t be afraid to go for the longshot.  This event is about pushing boundaries and identifying teams and individuals who have disruptive visions and are willing to make them a reality.

6. Don’t Just Talk, Build

   • Of course we want to hear about great ideas, but ultimately we want to see you turn your ideas into something tangible.  At the end of the day it’s what you have built that will speak louder than your words.
   • If you have identified a potential project that fits within the theme of the event then we encourage teams to go through the ideation and wireframing process beforehand.  This will allow your team to spend more time creating and less time trying to figure out what you want to build.

7. No Coding Before the Event

   • All projects must be entirely coded during the event.  However, if needed, hackers may utilize open-source code, API’s and frameworks.

8. Use Version Control Software

   • Using a version control software like GIT or Mercurial is a good idea.  It will help you keep track of your code and verify its originality should your team make it to the finals

9. Be Prepared To Show Us Your Code

   • If your team is selected as a finalist be prepared to show us your code.  We want to make sure that your code is original and valid. This will be done by a judge selected by the Idaho Virtual Reality Council.  Rest assured that your code and ideas belong to you and only you and will not be shared or distributed to any other parties.

10. Size Matters

    • Team size can range from 2 - 4 hackers.  In order to maintain fairness we will not allow teams larger or smaller than this to participate.
    • If you are a lone hacker but still want to participate sign up anyway and we will do our best to connect you with other hackers that don't have a team.
    • Hackers may not officially be a member of more than one team, however it is permissible for a hacker to lend his/her expertise to another team’s project if they choose.

11. To Participate in the Student Division

    • You must now be enrolled in an area high school, university, code camp, or have graduated within 12 months prior to the event.  If you participate in the event as a student please be prepared to provide proof (student ID, school correspondence .  .  .).

Join the competition and help make this the largest hackathon/Immerse-a-thon in Idaho - EVER!

Happy hacking,

The IVRC team