2023 Social Impact BuildFest
BuildFest is an inclusive event that encourages students to embrace emerging technologies and use them to address the social issues they face on campus everyday.
The 2023 Social Impact BuildFest was a weekend-long event that challenged the idea that building with immersive technology is difficult and complex. We have partnered with 8th Wall to bring their cutting edge WebAR platform to this year’s BuildFest. Eleven teams participated this year to build an augmented reality experience that addressed a wide variety of social issues, including: Mental Health and Wellness, Environmental Inequities, Access Needs of Disabled students, Race Visibility, and Gender Inclusivity.
From Friday trough Sunday, 48 participants worked for over 48 hours along with tech experts, mentors, faculty, and TXI explorers to build amazing and creative solutions to these social issues. Each team had the chance to present their project in front of a panel of judges which include members from Niantic 8th Wall, Texas Immersive Staff, PWC Staff, and UT professors. The deliberation was very difficult but 4 teams proved to be the top contenders by demonstrating their technical prowess, experience in design, creativity, and ability to really tune in and address a social issue of their choice in a responsible, responsive, and remarkable manner.
Meet the winners:
1st place
Team: RecyclAR
Project: RecyclAR
Members: Sarvesh Chidambaram, Anish Saripella, Zoey Kaul, Madison Phelan, and Ryan Lewis
The Problem: 23.5 million tons of recyclables wrongfully end up in landfills annually. This outrageous number reflects the quarter of all veritably recyclable items that are prevented from being recycled by the ignorance of Americans.
The Solution: RecyclAR aims to address the lack of knowledge among Americans by educating students about responsible waste disposal habits. By targeting the youth, we attempt to tap into the compounding effect of influencing younger generations early. This means that students can apply the knowledge they learn from RecyclAR throughout the rest of their lives.
TRY IT!
2nd place
Team: My Mental Buddy
Project: My Mental Buddy MIRA
Members: Christine Nguyen, Yuhua Gui, Ashauntee Fairley, and George Chandler
The Problem: People with executive disfunction (common in ADHD, depression, and anxiety disorder) feel the inability to complete easy tasks.
The Solution: MIRA: Mental Health Interactive Robot Assistant makes it easier by breaking down each task while making it fun!
TRY IT!
3rd place
Team: SocialARizers
Project: What We Hear
Members: Mayra Zamora, Smirah Obazei, Alice Liu, Nyah Strickland, Shaltiy-El Jackson
The Problem: Deep-rooted, unconscious biases often create antagonizing spaces for students of color on campus that make them feel isolated and uncomfortable.
The Solution: Amplifying our own experiences, non-minorities are educated about microaggressions. The ignorance of the topic has led to uncomfortable situations for POC, but our AR design builds the bridge for communicating with minorities without offending them in everyday places.
TRY IT!
Play Big Award (Sponsored by Play Big Inc.)
Team: The Flying Purple People-Eaters
Project: ECO-AR
Members: Keyur Kandle, Copeland(Cope) Williams, Nishith Raghav & Bo Banducci
The Problem: External temperature fluctuations can lead to your central air system working harder without you realizing, leading to increased environmental impact without you realizing it.
The Solution: Using 8th Wall’s VPS features, this team created an AR experience tied to your thermostat that lets you know if the difference between the internal and external temperatures are leading to outsized energy consumption.
Thank you to our sponsors!
