We're excited to announce our summer developer challenge, the "Explore Together: Location-Based AR Challenge." For the first time, the 8th Wall and Lightship communities will come together, pushing the limits of what can be achieved with AR. This challenge, running from May 6th to June 24th, calls on you to leverage our powerful Visual Positioning System (VPS) to create innovative, location-based AR experiences that bring real-world locations to life.

VPS connects the real world with the digital one by anchoring AR content to locations with unprecedented accuracy and precision. This enables location-based augmented reality experiences that feel more personal and gives users new reasons to explore the world around them.

Prizes Totaling $15,000

In this challenge, we're thrilled to offer a total of 14 prizes from a combined pool of $15,000. Prizes include a grand prize for the best 8th Wall submission and another for the best Lightship submission, each receiving $2,500. Additional prizes like the Global Explorer Prize and Champion of Fitness and Sport Prize encourage themed explorations, while the Community Catalyst Prize and Nature Navigator Prize focus on community engagement and environmental exploration. 

Let's Kick Things Off! 

Our adventure begins with the Info + Ideation event on May 7th, where participants can gather insights and spark their creativity in a collaborative atmosphere. Following this event, the Niantic AR Workshop will provide a hands-on experience on how to use VPS for WebAR and Unity apps, empowering developers to build compelling AR experiences with practical skills. Lastly, don't miss our AR Voices session, where industry leaders will share their experiences and insights on using VPS in AR projects.

Criteria 

Judging will be based on these four criteria:

• VPS Usage: Does the experience creatively and effectively use VPS to create an immersive location-based experience?
• Innovation: Does the experience introduce new and fresh ideas using 8th Wall or Lightship features
• Niantic Mission: Does your creation inspire users to explore and experience the world together, enhancing communal engagement and understanding?
• Completeness: How complete and polished is your project?