Be part of the biggest AI Hackathon in NRW and connect with engineers and product leads actually building what could be the next interfaces, apps and business models.
What if your AI agent had eyes and ears, stayed with you at all times, and delivered intelligent, contextual responses without you ever needing to pull out your phone? Welcome to the era of Ambient and Contextual AI, driven by Spatial Computing. As Smart Glasses, AR Glasses, and AI Wearables rapidly emerge, they raise pivotal questions: Will they eventually replace the smartphone? What will the user interfaces of the future look like? And which new business models will these technologies unlock?
Accept the Contextual AI Challenge and shape the next generation of computing!
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About the Challenge
The Contextual AI Challenge is part of the AI Hackathon at Startplatz. With specialized mentors and judges you can hack with novel devices like AI Glasses, AR Glasses and AI Wearables.
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Who Can Participate
Open to everyone: students, developers, designers, and creative thinkers. No prior XR experience required. Beginners are absolutely welcome!
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Why Attend
Learn from professionals in AI and XR, network with peers and be at the forefront of cutting-edge business models and technology.
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What you’ll build
In teams of 2 to 5 develop a project which uses external sensors and devices and free your AI.
👓 10x Snap Spectacles (2024) Available for Live AI Development
GIVE YOUR AI EYES AND EARS
Connect LLMs, multimodal agents, and APIs with real-world vision and spatial displays. Build the next generation of contextual AI assistants on Snap Spectacles.
AI APIs & Snap Spatial OS
Seamlessly integrate REST APIs, Claude, OpenAI, or custom AI pipelines with Lens Studio. You write the intelligence and agentic logic — Snap provides the spatial hardware, camera input, and UI. 100% forward-compatible with future Snap SPECS!
10x Snap Spectacles are available on-site for participating teams. No prior XR experience required! With starter templates, API boilerplates, and dedicated Snap Ambassadors by your side, you'll be coding within 30 minutes.
Thomas has been an experienced organizer of hackathons, meetups, and workshops for the XR community since 2021. As the host and founder of Spatial Realities, he is a frequent guest on podcasts, television news programs, and radio shows. Currently, he is touring with his keynote on AI smart glasses, offering comprehensive insights into the rapidly evolving AI glasses ecosystem.
Do I need XR experience, or can I join as a mobile/web/AI builder or designer?
There is no need to be an expert in any of those fields. The AI Hackathon is designed to be easy to join and start. Bring your willingness to learn and our mentors and the community will help you out.
Do I need to join the XR Track to build for AI Glasses?
If you want to win a prize you need to join that track. This might also give you access to a device we provide.
Can I participate solo, or do I have to form a team?
We strongly recommend that you join a team. If you want to win the track prize you need to submit as a team of at least 2. You can participate in the Hackathon as a solo developer nevertheless.
Do I have to ship a working build/APK or how do I participate?
The Hackathon finishes with a presentation of 3 minutes. You have to prepare that presentation. Also the jury members will visit you on Sunday to see what you have developed so far. Best case they can already try something out. We do encourage the jury members to consider your Hackathon journey. So tell your story. 🙂
How does the signup process work?
First, you need to sign up via this page. As we only have 25 seats, we need to curate the participants. At the end of July, you will receive a link and a code to register for the hackathon at Startplatz.de.
