Triangle VR Hackathon

The Inaugural Triangle VR Hackathon! Come join us for a weekend of creativity, innovation, and learning! The Triangle VR Hackathon is an opportunity to learn about Virtual Reality and other immersive technologies, to meet new people, and to get hands-on experience with VR design and development. What is a VR Hackathon? A hackathon is a weekend-long event where people come together to work on project ideas and win prizes. It’s an amazing opportunity to meet awesome people and learn. The Triangle VR Hackathon focuses on rapidly evolving immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality. The Triangle 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 Triangle VR Hackathon is open to everyone. We welcome artists, enthusiasts, UX designers, sound artists, 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 Triangle VR Hackathon is a great introduction to working with VR, and our organizers and workshop presenters are all dedicated to helping you no matter what your skill level. We welcome everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity, ethnicity, or background. Younger attendees are welcome, too, but must have an adult present if they are younger than 16 years of age.  VR is 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 $10 for students*, $20.00 Early Bird (Non-Students) and $30.00 General Admission. 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. Food will be provided and campus food courts, resturaunts and cafes are also availble for public use. Ask about our scholarships for any students who which to particpate but cannot meet the admission fee. When and where? The Triangle VR Hackathon will be hosted at the North Carolina State University Venture II. The event will run over the weekend of October 20-22, starting 6pm Friday and ending 5pm Sunday. Our schedule, below, is tentative at this stage. Sponsors Schedule Friday 6:00 PM - Registration / Welcome 6:30 PM - Mixer (Buffet) 7:00 PM – Opening Remarks (VR Hackathon / Booz Allen Hamilton / North Carolina State) 7:30 PM - Team Formation 8:00 PM - Hacking Begins (Open all night) Saturday 9:00 AM - Registration / Opening Announcements / Breakfast  10:00 AM – Hacking Begins 11:00 AM - Industry Panel 1:00 PM – Coffee Break, Snacks, (additional eateries on campus) 3:00 PM - Sponsor Demos 5:00 PM – Dinner Hacking - Open all night Sunday 9:00 AM – Opening Announcements / Breakfast 10:00 AM - Hacking Continues 12:00 PM – Lunch  1:00 PM - Hacking Concludes / Judging Begins 1:30 PM - Hacker Expo Begins 2:00 PM - Judging Concludes 4:00 PM - Winners Announced (Prizes) Closing Remarks 5:00 PM - Event Closes 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 Google Cardboard headset and can be quite compelling, and these devices are how most people are first experiencing VR. These headsets are very easy to work with and cheap to obtain online. 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 or bring portable partitions that you commonly employ. 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. 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. Extension cords and power strips: We will look to have some on hand but quantities may be limited, but it’s always helpful to have your own. 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) *hours are subject to change 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. Is the venue ADA compliant? Yes. The venue is accessible by ramp on the ground level, and by elevator to the upper level. 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. Submissions: https://trianglehack.devpost.com/ What are the prize categories? Sponsor Challenge - $700.00 Best Buy gift cards* Best of Show - $500.00 Best Buy gift cards* Best Use of Sound - $300.00 Best Buy gift cards* Best Visual Design - $300.00 Best Buy gift cards* Best Technical Achievement - $300.00 Best Buy gift cards* Best Interaction Design - $300.00 Best Buy gift cards* Peoples Choice Prize - $500.00 Best Buy gift cards* *prizes are Best Buy gift cards in increments of $50.00* 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 Triangle VR hackathon and the wider Raleigh VR community prior to the hackathon! If you'd like to help out with the hackathon, contact us at trianglehack@gmail.com. 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. In a change from previous events, we will allocate work spaces to teams on Friday night. Teams will no longer be able to claim spaces in a free-for-all as they have previously. We will be looking into pipe & drape dividers to help divide the main room and prevent interference between equipment. Code of Conduct We, the Triangle 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.  Refund Policy We will refund your ticket if we receive your request to do so at least seven (7) days before the event. We may, at our discretion, give late refunds in the event of a bereavement or medical / family emergency 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 trianglehack@gmail.com We look forward to seeing you! In the event the Hackathon reaches capacity and you still want to attend please reach out to us at trianglehack@gmail.com