(NAT) is thrilled to share an exciting glimpse into our community-building efforts, particularly in collaboration with the McGillXR student group! Recently, NAT's CEO, Eden Redman, served as an advisor to the NeuroVR Hackathon 2024, an event bringing together cutting-edge technology and neuroscience in an unique and inspiring way.
About McGillXR hackathon: The McGillXR NeuroVR Hackathon 2024 took place from March 23–24, hosted by McGillXR, a student-led organization at McGill University dedicated to pushing the boundaries of extended reality (XR) technologies such as augmented, virtual, and mixed reality. According to Annabel Wing-Yan Fan, President of the McGillXR VR Hack 2024 organizing team, the objective of the hackathon was to "create an environment fostering learning, collaboration, and skill-building in extended reality." In hosting the NeuroVR hackathon, students were given the opportunity to build upon their skills and socialize with other like-minded individuals within the XR community.
"The NeuroVR theme was chosen to highlight VR's diverse applications beyond gaming, focusing on healthcare, scientific exploration, and education. By partnering with academic and industry experts, we aimed to encourage students to integrate neuroscience research into their projects, leveraging scientific knowledge to address real-world challenges. This interdisciplinary approach allowed participants to gain experience in communicating across fields and explore the potential of VR technology in research, education, and healthcare." - Annabel Fan, McGillXR
NeuroVR Hackathon 2024, Raffles Zhu
The Hackathon: Participants expanded on their creativity and problem-solving skills during this hackathon through a series of captivating challenges. Gathered in teams of 2–5, they competed for exciting prizes and perks to recognize their outstanding achievements. This included cash awards for the top three teams and special prizes like SilicoLabs Experimenter Software Licenses and access to software and hardware resources courtesy of Meta and Meshy. Namely, Meta Quest 3 headsets and Meshy Pro software access. During this hackathon, participants choose from three categories: scientific exploration, healthcare innovation, and education and learning.
Those who opted for scientific exploration embarked on projects aimed at making intricate scientific concepts more accessible and engaging. Leveraging virtual reality (VR) or mixed reality (MR) technologies, participants could create either immersive visualizations of neural activity or biosignals, develop an engaging three-minute thesis presentation, or design interactive games and experiences that allow individuals to contribute to neuroscience research. The main focus of this category was to encourage a comprehensive approach to scientific discovery and understanding, allowing participants to demonstrate complex scientific concepts in interactive and compelling ways that are accessible to the general public.
Contestants who selected the healthcare innovation category emphasized using VR/MR for therapeutic and inclusive purposes and in turn, were able to come up with innovative ways to challenge healthcare issues and advance social impact through progressive applications. Several examples of how participants were able to implement VR/MR technology in the healthcare world were through creating mindfulness immersive therapeutic tools for individuals struggling with stress or anxiety, simulating social biases and mental health challenges to promote empathy and understanding, and also customizing VR/MR to improve its accessibility for individuals with diverse accessibility needs.
The education and learning category drove participants to enhance educational experiences by refining traditional teaching methods, fostering inclusivity and participation, and ensuring accessibility for a diverse audience, establishing the importance of education for all. MR was utilized as a tool to enable immersive learning of new skills and techniques. One current example on the market is playing the piano through the app PianoVision.
Several notable projects included the likes of XRgonauts, offering a narrated immersive guide to help children prepare for MRI scans, TipseaDipsea, which provided cognitive assessments for early-stage Parkinson's patients utilizing combined rhythm exercises, The Maze, serving as a behavioral testing tool for spatial memory and navigation and NeuralNagivators, an educational game to teach children about different types of cells in the brain.
Annabel Fan asserts that the exemplary projects "stood out for their significance and successful implementation, underscoring the interdisciplinary collaboration and neuroscience expertise that guided them." Some other notable projects worked to illustrate social phobias through exposure therapy, embodied learning of neurobiology, immersive memory aids for Alzheimer's patients, and digital spaces for emotional regulation informed by dialectical behavior therapy.
NeuroVR Hackathon 2024, Raffles ZhuNeurAlbertaTech (NAT)
NAT offered support to the initiative of the McGillXR NeuroVR Hackathon through the guidance of Eden Redman, CEO. Eden served as an advisor, offering valuable insights and knowledge gathered from past natHACKS experience to enhance participants' understanding and approach to the challenges presented during the event. With active engagement with teams, providing advice, technical expertise and assistance to enhance their projects, NAT aims to foster valuable connections and collaborations from all across Canada to promote the growth of neurotechnology.
Pre-Hack Events Before the hackathon event, participants had the chance to engage in several exciting sub-events designed to enhance their skills and foster collaboration. The hackathon kicked off with an introduction to Unity and XR development set-up, equipping participants with the essential tools and knowledge to begin creating immersive experiences. The following day featured an engaging workshop on XR development using the Meta Presence Platform, offering participants exciting opportunities to explore advanced techniques and capabilities of neurotechnology in anticipation of the hackathon challenges. The final event was a vibrant social mixer featuring a NeuroVR showcase. Here, teams had the opportunity to engage and gain deeper insights about neurotechnology, all while forging connections with fellow participants and fostering collaborative relationships in the process. In partnership with McGillXR for the NeuroVR Hackathon, NAT has embraced a thrilling opportunity to expand our horizons and extend our impact to Eastern Canada. As we continue to reach out to a broader audience, we hope to foster a productive environment to promote the use and development of new-age technological innovations and strengthen multi-disciplinary collaboration, particularly in the areas of arts, neuroscience, programming, and marketing. Through the use of neurotechnology to tackle socially significant issues such as scientific exploration, healthcare innovations, and education and learning, we hope to highlight the importance of integrative, cross-disciplinary efforts in increasing diversity and improving accessibility. McGillXR hopes to continue hosting a variety of events and initiatives such as VR film screenings, gaming nights, and industry and academic talks, and connect students to the vibrant XR community in Montreal.
We are committed to building the capacity of our students, equipping them with the skills and knowledge needed to develop meaningful XR solutions. In the future, we intend to send teams to compete in hackathons, providing opportunities for students to collaborate with peers from other universities and further their network and careers in the XR space. -Annabel Fan, McGillXR