3rd of June 2021 Swedish partner of the InnoCAPE project, the Research institutes of Sweden RISE and Propell, arranged a hackathon to solve a InnoCAPE spooky challenge. A challenge with focus on Industry 5.0, hydraulics, user experience, Internet of Things and tourism. When targeting on Industry 5.0 rather than 4.0, the Hackathon went beyond producing goods and services for profit. It shifts the focus from the shareholder value to stakeholder value and reinforces the role and the contribution of industry to society. Total amount of 44 participants from enterprises, students and other business took part.
A spooky challenge
During Propell hackathon the participants created new networks and collaborations – at the same time as they solved a challenge together. In short, the challenge during this hackathon was to create an interactive building that really stands out from what we are used to see. It should be able to have certain properties and movement patterns.
The challenge came from the cultural entrepreneurs Petra Shara Stoor och Fredrik Fernlund who run House Of Helsinglight, a creative escape, in Vattlång, Sweden. The couple wanted help to create their dream destination – a house on chicken legs. Is this even possible?
Preparations for the hackathon
Invitations were sent out through targeted social media campaigns around Sweden, with focus on industry and creative industries. Large amount of world-of-mount, VIP invitation and E-mail was spread to universities, students and small and medium enterprises around northern Sweden. The challenge in its entirety was kept secret until the hackday began on June 3rd.
Two days before the hackathon the registered participants got an e-mail with information and short instruction videos for the digital tools and links to the event. And one day before they received more information about the challenge with a trailer from Petra and Fredrik.
Hack day – mix of skills and experience
Of course, due to COVID-19, the hackathon took place digitally with online tools, Zoom and a digital whiteboard Mural. In the beginning of the hackathon the participants were introduced to the challenge and then divided into teams, to get a good mix of skills and experience. Then the teams were placed in a separate Zoomroom to hack the challenge together for 10 hours. During the hack, the organizers were available for support in the main room and the moderator took a visit around the teams in their breakout rooms to find out if they needed any help during the process.
Success and valuable ideas for the future
The team shared their result in a 4 minutes recorded pitch and a jury of six people evaluated the ideas bases on Feasibility, sustainability, Height of innovation, Experience through the 5 senses and Stomach feeling, you can make magic a reality. Solutions based on mechanics, sensors and hydraulics were combined with creative user experience!
The event was a success and House of Helsinglight was happy with the results from the different teams. The teams gave positive feedback saying that it was a fun and inspiring day and valuable to contribute with their skills and experiences.
Winning team where awarded with Oculus Quest and InnoCAPE project will in a week meet the team in VR!