Recently updated on June 9th, 2022 at 12:35 pm
Indigenous Labs have emerged first place winner of the 2021 Abuja Tech Friday Hackathon organised by Art Tech District (ATD) in collaboration with the Civic Innovation Lab (Civicilab).
This hackathon is an opportunity for Developers, Tech Startups, Tech enthusiasts and Undergraduates (in Universities across Nigeria) to propose and build software solutions to determine the best way to walk through museum exhibitions using AR (Augmented Reality) or VR (Virtual Reality) or a Web Application, with the aim of synchronizing Nigerian Art and History with digital solutions.
The maiden edition of the Abuja Tech Friday is a series of hackathons to create a platform for “Using Technology To Tell Nigerian History” and will be called the MUSEUMHACK.
Indigenous Labs – proud lovers of culture whose solution enabled uploads, updates, and registration processes; a full system in one. Their solution leverages on providing traction and no-contact experiences which enables navigation in, around and out of the museum-freely, truly built for times like this. They also demonstrated how museums can become the go-to for teaching kids history and empowering institutions. The fact that these things can be achieved using web links and not an application was another factor that distinguished this team of two.
Indigenous Labs receive the grand prize of ₦500,000 seed fund for further development of the solution.
Memphis emerged in second place and receive ₦300,000 seed fund for further development of the solution. The group consisted of web experts, an animator, a creative director and a writer. Their focus was on a 3-dimensional solution, on how art pieces can be enjoyed as well as how to monetize these artifacts.
Urban Development emerged in third place and receive ₦200,000 seed fund for further development of the solution. This team of one impressed the judges with his confident presentation and his understanding of the disruptive nature of technology and how it can be used.
Some of the other participating groups and their tech solutions include:
● Opinok: Their presentation was centered around the use of VR tech for locations, which was designed to provide details of products and artifacts through scans.
● Air space: This group’s design was coded to aid the identification of artifacts for museum visitors as well as information about art and cultural things.
● Team Alpha: Who featured AR and VR solutions on how to run the museum and other interactive solutions using technology. These great minds successfully provided information which seem to have the capacity to stand the test of time and proffer communication solutions for not just museums but organizations looking to stay relevant in this world order and the current system of things.
● Team X-rays: Using QR codes, taught that we could talk about the history of the artifacts. This QR code design provided live information about onsite works of art. A live demonstration showed how history could be told without contact and through the use of voice overs which come in different languages.
● Team Percept: Percept’s solution was concerned with population control and user experience as their presentation was centered on decongestion and easy access to information about art works, and artifacts in the museum. Providing camera tracking solutions to aid recognition of artifacts. They created communication solutions that bridges the gap between museum visitors and the art, giving them a guide in their pocket and the opportunities to explore the various artifacts in different dimensions.
The Hackathon Judges were – Rotimi Williams (Data Analyst and mixed media artist), Amanda Kirby Okoye (Lawyer & Historian), Adepegba Oduntan (Tech Entrepreneur), and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji ( Co-founder Andela & Flutterwave) who joined via Zoom video call based their decisions on:
-Presentation skills
-Business mindedness of their solutions
-Uniqueness and level of thought that went into their solution pitch,
