Recently, XR Bootcamp organized XR Hack, the largest global XR hackathon ever organized. Over 520 hackers from 32 countries across four cities joined, pushing the boundaries of XR development. The hackathon encouraged participants to develop projects using Meta’s latest tools, including the Presence Platform, Building Blocks, AI-tool Kit released by XR Bootcamp, and the Logitech MR Stylus Pen.
XR Hack was hosted in
In just 48 hours, over 120 apps and games were created, many of which leveraged AI and mixed reality to craft innovative experiences. On average, the participants had about 3 years of experience with Unity/XR, and those who were new to MR Development took a free Udemy course (not only for hackers, if you’re interested in learning Mixed Reality Development for free, sign up here).
XR Hack’s global reach and impact were remarkable:
AI Integration: 20% of projects integrated AI, including XR Bootcamp’s "Image Capture AI-kit" for Quest 3.
XR Hack has quickly become one of the most exciting hackathons in the XR community. It brings together brilliant minds to tackle the biggest challenges in immersive tech. To achieve such an event, and especially provide hackers with the support they need, many partners need to get together.
For Photon, their goal was to support developers as they created some innovative multi-user apps, games, and tools. Their team was present in Cologne and London, mentoring hackers on site, but they also gave a free multi and gave the Photon team some great feedback that will help to further improve Photon’s developer tools.
Luke Stampfli, Head of Developer Relations, Photon:
Making a Multiplayer game is one of the hardest challenges studios can face. Making it in VR adds even more complexity to that. So when I saw what the hackers were able to achieve in one weekend using Fusion, Photon’s Samples and Meta’s Building Blocks I was astounded. What used to take months of backbreaking work is now possible in just a few days. And thanks to the great organization and support during the event, the teams could focus on their projects without any distractions.
ShapesXR was THE tool for validating XR Prototype ideas, and also for submitting projects to the juries! The famous Gabriele Romagnoli was able to not only participate at the XR Hack in Cologne, but also gave a live online workshop about how to use ShapesXR exclusively for hackers! Now it’s also available online, check it out!
Logitech supported Hackers with The MX Ink. AT that time, the pens had not been released yet, which gave hackers the amazing opportunity to test a device before anyone else. Winners of the Logitech Category were also allowed to take their own devices back home.
Pearson (very famous in the VR world because of their language learning VR app), supported hackers with their own challenge category! Hackers were challenged to Re-imagine formal education by making lessons and exams fully experiential with the power of AI and MR.
Ilya Gogin, Director of Product, Pearson:
We were blown away by the quality of projects all the hacking teams developed in 48 hours. The polish we’ve seen with some teams like HoloSign or Wonky Bots was mind-blowing.
It was an amazing opportunity to meet so many talented XR professionals and enthusiasts. While some were generally excited by the XR industry, some hackers were motivated by the opportunity XR has for education. Some have contacted us at Pearson, seeking ways to work with us. In the coming weeks, we’re planning to get in touch with more XR hackers from the event as well as other sponsoring companies, including Meta.
Mattercraft also provided their own challenge category, focusing on all experienced created with the well known tool. The winner team won 4000 GBP for their idea in London!
Dave Mather, Head of Marketing, Mattercraft:
We absolutely loved being part of XR Hack London this year as one of the key sponsors.
We worked with them to create a specialist WebXR category for developers and non-developers
alike looking to leverage the power and flexibility of the web. Overall the quality of the WebXR projects produced was fantastic. We've already promoted the entrants in a blog on our site with a follow-up case study planned with our winners. We'll definitely be looking to partner with XR Hack next year.
Even though all projects prototyped were great (look at all winning projects here), we want to take the opportunity and highlight some of the most creative and coolest projects here:
A special shout-out to Lukas Martinic and his winning prototype Color-picker! His app not only amazed our jury in Stockholm but also went viral on linkedin with almost 1000 likes!
Additionally, Wonky Bots, a physics-based robot-building game, has already made its way onto the Meta Horizon Store, demonstrating the high caliber of projects produced at the event.
The famous Tipatat Chennavasin, Co-founder and GP at The Venture Reality Fund, was invited to join XR Hack as a judge, however, once arrived at XR Hack in Cologne, he decided to hack, instead of judge. Good decision, his team’s 3D Spatial Editing and Visualization app won not only one, but two prizes!
He was invited to join as jury as well, but immediately decided he wanted to become a hacker on-site!
We’re looking forward to hosting XR Hack 2025 in even more cities! If you’re interested, pre-register now!
