XR hack – an exciting journey for Vinnova and the future of XR technology

In the fall of 2024, Vinnova, together with Meta, arranged a ground-breaking XR hackathon in Stockholm. The initiative was born at a meeting between Vinnova and Meta, in Silicon Valley last winter, and the plans took further shape in a close collaboration to plan the hack. Meta involved XR Bootcamp, and soon Epicenter also joined the collaboration.

The ambition and goal of the hack was clear: we wanted to create a meeting place where industry, researchers, students, decision makers and creative developers could meet and collaborate. And I think we succeeded! At Vinnova, we see XR as a pioneering technology, a pioneering technology with great potential for the future, and the XR hack was one of our most important activities this year, to stimulate the development of XR in Sweden.

Who were there?

During the summer of 2024, several developers have signed up to participate in the hackathon. During the first day of the hackathon, there was an opportunity for matchmaking for developers looking for teams. Newly created and already established teams were briefed on the challenges formulated by Meta, Pearson and Logitech together with the organizers.

The challenge areas were:

• Mixed Reality Prize, which contained three categories: Hobbies & Skills, Utility & design and Social/casual gaming.
• Experiential Education Prize, with aim of promoting innovative learning concepts for primary and secondary school as well as lifelong learning.
• The The MR Stylus prize was another category where the best use of an interactive pen, with which one can draw, write and manipulate objects in a virtual environment, was rewarded. The pen could be used in a unique idea, or in one of the other challenges during the hackathon.

All teams had access to mentors who could coach ideas and in the development environments.

Vinnova's objective: to strengthen the Swedish XR ecosystem

The XR hack in Stockholm is a central part of Vinnova's effort to explore and stimulate XR as a strategic area. Som Sveriges's innovation authority is our role to identify future technology areas, mobilize the ecosystem and fund research and innovation. In Inom XR we see an exciting potential, especially in combination with breakthroughs in AI, connectivity, materials science and digitalisation. XR can contribute to solving many challenges in, for example, education, industry and healthcare - and also has potential to educate and influence other areas of technology.

The quality of the projects – inspiring insights

It was a great pleasure to attend the award ceremony on the last day of the hackathon. I was deeply impressed by the presentations the teams delivered and how they approached the challenges. The mix of participants – everything from students from Swedish universities to development teams from large companies and international groups – was truly inspiring.

A total of 28 fundingwere presented, each with a presentation film. The jury, which consisted of around 30 Swedish and international experts and entrepreneurs, had particularly looked at the following assessment criteria:

• Compelling concept- The experience is different from what is currently available at Quest (Store or App Lab) or previous hackathons.
• Best use of the Presence platform - The experience is only possible in Mixed reality.
• Quality of contribution - a high-quality user experience in a well-crafted presentation.

Many of the concepts developed over the weekend clearly demonstrated how useful and beneficial XR technology is. It is easy to see how XR applications can create engaging and playful collaborations, as well as how they contribute to exploring and understanding our world in new ways. I cannot highlight a specific project, but several of the presented solutions showed that XR technology can make a big difference in areas such as sustainable food industry, education and collaborative problem solving.

What happens after the hackathon?

Vinnova will continue to mobilize the ecosystem and strengthen Sweden's position in the XR area. Our ambition is to finance project that want to develop ideas and collaborate internationally and to create a national innovation platform for XR. We will also continue to support and be inspired by the network that came together during the XR hack. Vinnova already finances many project in visualization, image analysis, digital twins and more, and we see clear trends where entertainment, game development and industry cross-fertilize. We hope that events like the XR hackathon can serve as a platform where experts and actors are connected, and we will continue to nurture these collaborations.

Valuable results as a partner organization

One of the most important aspects for us has been to help strengthen and develop the XR ecosystem. Participating in and sometimes initiating events like this XR hack means that we at Vinnova learn even more. We consider it very valuable to be part of the XR community.

I also want to highlight the presentations from the first day of the hackathon, which served as inspiration for this weekend's hackathon. It was truly an inspiring afternoon where "everyone" met and got to listen to an impressive breadth of speakers and perspectives. The topics ranged from how we can connect society, how large companies used XR in design and production, how we build the immersive internet together, to VR's role in foresight and exploring future scenarios. In addition, we received insightful and inspiring examples of how advanced visualization combined with XR and AI can help us better understand the world around us, the importance of empathy for understanding and XR's unique ability to help us "think outside the world" and much more.

Vinnova and future XR hackathon

Currently, we don't have concrete plans for another XR hackathon, but we're definitely open to the idea. If there will be a new Swedish XR hackathon, we will carefully consider how we can best contribute and support the initiative. This hackathon was not only a milestone for the development of XR technology in Sweden, but also for Vinnova as an innovation authority. We look forward to continuing our journey with XR and the wider technology ecosystem!

Text: Tove Jansson