The MIT Media Lab is backing a hackathon on the MIT campus to promote new applications for augmented reality (AR) and virtual Reality (VR). Students from MIT and other universities, developers, designers, and video and audio engineers are invited to apply to participate in the event being held Oct. 7-10, 2016.

The Reality, Virtually, Hackathon will stretch the amazing VR and AR advancements made and expertise gained from building popular gaming and entertainment apps into new fields such as VR/AR “for good,” health/medicine, education, industry, productivity, advertising, social networking and other vertical applications about which participants feel passionate.

The hackathon theme is consistent with the Media Lab’s purpose: “The MIT Media Lab goes beyond known boundaries and disciplines, encouraging the most unconventional mixing and matching of seemingly disparate research areas. It creates disruptive technologies that happen at the edges.”

Participants from MIT, other top universities, and the VR and AR communities around the United States will form teams to develop innovative software solutions that will unlock the technology’s potential in new categories, some never attempted before.

Up to 400 participants will learn and build new apps during this hackathon using their own, and sponsor-provided, AR and VR platforms. This is the first VR/AR hackathon ever run at this large a scale. Workshops will be held the day before the hackathon to bring participants up to speed with development platforms, specifics about headset platforms, software tools and design. Mentors skilled in design, platform development and vertical VR and AR applications will provide guidance and help participants break through conceptual and development roadblocks.

The Reality, Virtually, Hackathon is organized by a team of AR/VR experts, developers, industry executives, MIT undergraduate and graduate students and alumni. AT&T, Microsoft, ARM and Unity will also sponsor the event.

More information is available from the Reality, Virtually, Hackathon website.

Disclosure: Steven Max Patterson is one of the hackathon organizers.