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Hackathons are a great way for developers to step away from their regular routine and stretch their creative and technical muscles. Everyone gets to build, experiment and innovate for a project of their choosing. Last month the Mapway and mxData teams took two days out of their everyday roles for the company Hackathon 2016.
Some took the opportunity to try and solve a problem they had in their day-to-day lives. Some saw it as a chance to experiment with tools and technology they hadn’t worked with before… And others took a pile of Lego and turned it into a useful, functioning machine.
The Hackathon wasn’t just for developers either. The operations, creative and commercial teams all got in on the act as well.
Here’s what we got up to over the two days…
James’ Smile Detector
No need for perfect timing with this device for taking photos. The idea is that the app will identify people and faces then take a photo only when everyone in it is smiling.Tim and Richard’s “Man vs Machine”
Tim and Richard started by experimenting with image recognition using Wolfram Alpha and Google. They then turned this into the game “Man vs Machine” where you have to guess the title of a film using the chosen images. Wolfram and Google then do the same thing by detecting each image.Haroon’s Plate Washing Game
This funky game has people throwing plates around the office and into a dish washer without letting them fall to the ground. Simple but really really fun.Simon’s AR Transport Display
An app on a smart phone used the camera display and then placed markers to show where nearby transport links were and how far away they were.
Marc and Dave’s Fish Feeder
A fish bowl, held in a large Lego construction that performed a number of important functions. A Lego man at the top could drop fish food into the bowl below when someone pressed a command from a smartphone. When the food ran out a red “refill” light would come on and there was also a little screen that displayed messages. Louis and Tony’s Pub Picker An app designed to help people choose which pub to go to. A common problem on a night out is not being able to pick somewhere to go so this app finds places nearby pubs and picks one at random.Mike’s 3D model maker
Using the Kinect camera, Mike was able to scan the body of a volunteer to build a 3D model. This model could then potentially by printed by a 3D printer.John’s Light Cycle game
A fun game that reminded us of Tron where two people move light cycles and try to knock each other out of the game. The best part is you can play it here!
Kit’s Web Dev Experiment
Kit created a reusable web component using the Google Polymer project. It displays timetable information such as a rail timetable. The web component also support responsive websites for a better printing experience.Graeme’s Cortana Travel Helper
Graeme took the Cortana voice recognition and made it work for his own travel planner. This meant people could ask Cortana for the nearest station or direction to a location and she would provide the answer.Will’s Plane Tracker
A scanner that displays the locations of planes on a map. No doubt inspired by Mapway’s proximity to the airport!Adrian’s Travel Cards
Inspired by Google Now cards, Adrian designed handy app cards for different modes of transport.Stuart’s animation and Snake clone
Stuart looked at game making tools. This first allowed the user to build a skeleton on top of a character to allow it to be animated. The second was a program for making a version of snake where the art could be replaced.