The art of engaging the youth - HackArt online hackathon case study
The event was a social initiative to remember. In the age of internet media dominating what we read, watch, and listen to, more traditional forms of expression are being suppressed. While technology is an extremely important and valuable part of our lives, it’s also crucial to disconnect from time to time, appreciate art in its pure form, the way it was done for ages. Events like this one benefit whole societies bringing new outlook at our reality.
Projects
The event lasted from March 1 to July 4, 2016, with its final stage in Warsaw. The participants were competing for their chance to win a prize from the pool of 25.000 PLN.
The winning project was called Art Ambassador. It’s a mobile app that creates a bridge between cultural facilities, like theatres, and volunteers willing to help in promotion of events. The system is based on a simple premise that, in exchange for help towards the facilities, volunteers are given entrance tickets to events of their choice. That incredibly smart and straightforward idea, wrapped in a well-designed mobile app, was rightfully awarded the first place in HackArt competition.
Second place was awarded to Art Charity, another mobile app-based project. It takes the concept of “paying it forward” to the realm of artistic world. The app promotes buying an extra ticket to a show a person is attending. Instead of using said ticked outright, the next attendee receives it for free. The gifter is then notified about the person who received it. By promoting random acts of kindness people are expected to frequent facilities like theatres and museums more often.
We Recommend Good Art (original name: Polecamy Dobrą Sztukę) is the project awarded third place in HackArt. Have you ever tried to find an accurate recommendation for a movie based on a short quiz? This mobile app takes the same approach to art performances! Just answer a set of questions, specify the location, and the app, using a system based on Collaborative Filtering, will suggest the best shows and performances for you to attend.
360° of Culture (original name: 360° Kultury), awarded fourth place (EX AEQUO), offers a 360° view of the venue of a cultural event in a live stream format using just a smartphone. The users can select many perspectives, like front seat, balcony, or even get a behind the scenes look. What’s unique about this solution is the fact that the art “comes to people”, which can be a blessing for disabled people not being able to leave their homes easily.
Lastly, Culture Trailer (original name: Tropiciel Kultury) won fourth place (EX AEQUO) in the HackArt contest. It’s a mobile app that makes the user decide what cultural events to take part in on the basis of first impression. The application presents little information about a given event and makes the user decide whether they’re interested or not. On top of that there’s an element of surprise where a completely unrelated to preferences event will be shown. It’s meant to prevent people from falling into a closed circle of interest with no way of expanding those.
In total there were 26 projects submitted by the participants. Aside from the ones chosen by the judges, the public selected one work to receive the Public Choice award, and that was Virtual Tour. It’s a desktop application that enables exploring museums, theatres, concert halls. Users can control it with either the mouse and keyboard combination, or with a virtual reality headset.
HackArt online hackathon attracted a lot of important partners and sponsors. IBM was the technological partner of the event, which enabled the participants’ experience to be on the highest level. The event had also gathered valuable sponsors, such as Alior Bank or SALESManago. HackArt was also covered in media by outlets such as aibusiness.pl or di.com.pl informing about the first Polish hackathon dedicated to such cultural initiative.
The event had its final in Warsaw on July 4, 2016. It was an extreme pleasure to be a part of such an initiative. Culture is the backbone of the society, and we can proudly say we have contributed to increasing the engagement of the youth in art and cultural events in a creative way that speaks to them. If you want to work with us on an inspiring event such as this one, visit our website, let’s get in touch!
