Announcing Our Presence Platform Hackathon Results

From April 25 – 27, 2023, developers from around the world participated in Meta’s Presence Platform Hackathon, which took place on Meta campuses in California and London. Over 150 applicants were selected to build mixed reality experiences on-site using Meta Quest Pro and Presence Platform, to compete for the chance to win a $50,000 USD prize (per location).

In total, 33 projects were presented across both hackathon locations, including games and apps for fitness, fashion, art, mental health, and more.

We’re excited to announce our two winning submissions: “The Digital Wardrobe” and “SUBMERSED.” Learn more about each project below.

The Digital Wardrobe lets people try on colorful digital garments with imaginative themes—including a garden set, bubble set, and princess set—to transform the reflection they see in a virtual mirror that lives in their physical space. You can “try on” each outfit with a simple hand gesture and interact with your virtual reflection as it tracks your movements in the physical world. The winning concept was created by Isabelle Udo, Roland Smeenk, Marcus Benisty, and Vedran Skarica. The team used Presence Platform capabilities like Scene Understanding, Eye Tracking, Body Tracking, and Hand Tracking to bring their project to life.

“Our goal was to transform the way individuals express themselves in the digital world. We were able to evolve our concept by incorporating the diverse perspectives of all team members.The final result exceeded our initial ideas and truly showcased the power of collaboration and innovation.” — Isabelle Udo, one of the developers behind the winning project, The Digital Wardrobe.

SUBMERSED is a game that takes place in a digital replica of your physical room, but the room is being flooded with water coming from multiple holes in the wall. In order to survive, you must use your hands to apply duct tape and ensure the water level doesn’t surpass your height. The water comes in more quickly as the game progresses. This concept was created by Stephen Rogers, Gabriel Williams, Wyatt Strain, and Danny Oswaldo Chavez Miranda. The team used Presence Platform capabilities like Passthrough, Spatial Anchors, and Hand Tracking to bring their game to life.

“The hackathon was an amazing experience, and I got to meet some incredible developers. Our team is currently exploring ways to expand on what we’ve already made, and we’re excited by the potential. In particular, we loved how haptic feedback added an extra level of immersion that really wouldn’t be possible without MR.” — Stephen Rogers, one of the developers behind the winning submission, SUBMERSED.

Over three days, all attendees got the chance to network with Meta product and marketing experts as well as fellow innovators, while learning about some of the latest updates to Presence Platform capabilities like Passthrough, Scene, Spatial Anchors, Interaction SDK, Voice SDK, and Movement SDK.

Thanks to everyone for their participation. Learn about the core capabilities of Presence Platform and get started building more immersive VR and mixed reality experiences today. Also stay tuned for future hackathon announcements on our blog and Twitter.