The AR/VR Africa Metathon is an expanded program built around our flagship hackathon, the AR/VR Africa Hackathon. It is a call to all who love creativity, innovation and learning; an opportunity to get hands-on experience in AR and VR design and development, and meet others who also want to learn and create with AR and VR.

The 2022 AR/VR Africa Metathon is a planned program of events which comprises three major events:

• AR/VR Africa Pre-hackathon training
• AR/VR Africa Hackathon
• AR/VR Africa Bootcamp

The AR/VR Africa Pre-hackathon training is a program to acquire skills or upskill in XR. Everyone who signs up will have access to curated learning resources on our Discord server, as well as XR experts who will provide mentorship, and facilitate masterclasses and workshops.

In addition, we will run trainer-led XR classes from September - November 2022. Sign up for these on Discord.

The AR/VR Africa Hackathon is an African competition and opportunity to create with, and learn about Virtual and Augmented Reality. The hackathon is fun, fast-paced, challenging and highly rewarding. You get to work on project ideas with developers/coders, designers, strategists, and enthusiasts and win prizes.

The AR/VR Africa Hackathon is a hybrid event where you will use your XR skills to create solutions to everyday problems in Africa. You can participate in the Hackathon - offline - in one of the 16 In-person 48-hour Hackathons across Africa, or -online - in the one-week Virtual Hackathon. The online & offline hackathons will take place in November and December 2022.

Following the 2022 AR/VR Africa Hackathon, 1st place teams in the different countries/country groups of the hackathon will have the opportunity to participate in our bootcamp.

The AR/VR Africa Bootcamp is an intensive 3-month virtual program which will support the teams to advance their solutions and create MVPs. Teams will receive financial and technical support to build out their MVPs, alongside a structured curriculum, facilitated by industry experts, based on the start-up equation.

It will conclude with a Demo Day where teams will pitch their solutions to investors. They will represent a range of extended reality solutions representing the 2022 verticals. After the bootcamp, teams are expected to successfully apply for incubator and accelerator programs.

Each edition of the AR/VR Africa Hackathon has a different theme on which it is focused. The theme of the 2022 AR/VR Africa Metathon is “Your XR, Your Way!”.

Everyone! Developers, programmers, UI/UX designers, artists, animators, storytellers, enthusiasts, professionals, students, and all that want to spend time creating solutions with augmented and virtual reality, and other immersive technologies, and are resident in an African country.

Once you register and join the discord server, your learning will begin! Remember, anyone can go to a hackathon, regardless of their level of expertise.

Register via the homepage of this website.

Yes. Once you join the AR/VR Africa Discord Server, you will have access to learning resources on our Discord server and the Pre-hackathon training. Everyone will have access once they have applied.

The training will be done by AR/VR Instructors. Where an AR/VR Instructor is resident in your country, the training will be hybrid. The physical training will take place in the AR/VR Africa Lab in your country (where existent), and you will also have access to XR experts via Discord. In all other instances, the training will be held on Discord and various virtual platforms (this will be communicated in due time on discord).

Register for the AR/VR Africa Metathon and join the discord server.

All participants who complete the instructor-led sessions will get a Certificate of Completion.

The AR/VR Africa Hackathon is an African competition and opportunity to create with, and learn about Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality. This is also an opportunity to meet new people, and get hands-on experience with AR and VR design and development.

The AR/VR Africa Hackathon is held on the African continent. It is held continent-wide online, with in-person hackathons in 16 African Countries (Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique, Egypt, Kenya, Cameroon, Tunisia, Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Namibia, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Ethiopia).

Participants from all backgrounds, skills, genders, and geographies are welcome. We accept a wide range of applicants, from beginners to AR/VR hackathon veterans. Prior AR/VR experience is not a requirement.

If you have any equipment and can use it (desktops/laptops/monitors/HMDs), we would encourage you to use it. We will have equipment from sponsors for participants who do not have any equipment or are unable to bring it for the offline event. If the supply of a platform does not meet the demand we will ask teams to share this equipment. This has not been a problem in the past.

To participate in the AR/VR Africa Hackathon 2022, you must have registered for the 2022 AR/VR Africa Metathon, and have/formed a team.

The online Hackathon is scheduled to hold from November 21st to 25th, 2022. The in-person hackathon will hold in 16 African countries from December 2nd to 4th, 2022.

Participants from all backgrounds, genders, and geographies in Africa are welcome. The age restriction for participating in the hackathon is 18. All registered participants must have access to the discord server to connect with their team members and must also reside in an African country. 

The organizing committee and Imisi3d staff are not eligible to participate in the hackathon. However, they may assist teams as mentors during the coding/development phase. This hackathon is open to Africans residing in any African country.

Teams can consist of at least three team members to a maximum of five members. Exceptions can be made for teams to have more than five members on a case-by-case basis. Contact the hackathon committee in case you need to have a team of more than five members. All teams should have at least one VR developer. 

Participants who participated on the same team during a previous hackathon are permitted to be team members on the same team competing in a current hackathon. 

If you do not have a team, you can join the AR/VR Africa Discord Server to find team members for the hackathon.

No development may start before the actual date and time of the finale. Any teams that violate this rule will be automatically disqualified. Any software development tools, game engine, IDE, and/or programming language can be used for the event. 

A team member cannot use a purchased tool licensed to only him or her, without the license being transferable to other members. Instead, the member’s team must choose one available to all developer teams. This also means that team members cannot use “cracked” or “pirated” software.

To ensure a level field for all contestants, all code must be created only at the hackathon. You are permitted to use publicly developed and openly licensed APIs and SDKs for your project.

Our hackathon is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, previous hackathon attendance or computing experience (or lack of any of the aforementioned). We do not tolerate harassment of hackathon participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate for any hackathon venue, including hacks, talks, workshops, parties, social media, and other online media. Hackathon participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the hackathon at the discretion of the hackathon organizers. 

Harassment includes offensive verbal comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion, sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, photography or audio/video recording against reasonable consent, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention. Photography is encouraged, but other participants must be given a reasonable chance to opt-out of being photographed. If they object to the taking of their photograph, comply with their request. It is inappropriate to take photographs in contexts where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy (in bathrooms or where participants are sleeping).

Participants asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately. As this is a hackathon, we like to explicitly note that the hacks created at our hackathon are equally subject to the anti-harassment policy. Sponsors and partners are also subject to the anti-harassment policy. In particular, sponsors should not use sexualized images, activities, or other material. Sponsor representatives (including volunteers) should not use sexualized clothing/ uniforms/costumes or otherwise, create a sexualized environment. If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the hackathon staff immediately. They will be happy to help participants contact any local security or local law enforcement, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the hackathon. We value your attendance. If a participant engages in harassing behaviour, the hackathon organizers may take any action they deem appropriate. This includes warning the offender, expulsion from the hackathon with no refund (if applicable), or reporting their behaviour to local law enforcement. We expect participants to follow these rules at hackathons, mentoring and workshop sessions, masterclasses, and hackathon-related social events.

There are five verticals for the hackathon - Social impact; Education; Health; Tourism; and Business Application. Imagine and conceptualise ways in which you can create solutions in these 5 sectors for African communities.

The choice is yours! As long as you are confident that you can come up with a working augmented, mixed or virtual reality experience by the end of the hackathon, we are fine.

You do! However, you can choose to open source your code, expand on it, etc. This is a great opportunity to make use of advice from industry experts!

You should bring your A-game, great ideas, and have access to a laptop, power, internet, and any augmented and/or virtual reality equipment available. Aside from that, Nothing!

Remember, It isn’t just about technology. It’s also about learning, design, creation, and problem-solving. If you have an interest in art, graphics, 3D modelling, film, education, sound design, game design, or business, you will enjoy the AR/VR Africa Metathon.

The AR/VR Africa Bootcamp is an intensive 3-month virtual program which will support the 1st place winners of the AR/VR Africa Hackathon to advance their solutions and create MVPs. It will conclude with a Demo Day where teams will pitch their solutions to investors. After the bootcamp, teams are expected to successfully apply for incubator and accelerator programs.

The 2022 AR/VR Africa Bootcamp is scheduled to hold from January 16th to April 5th, 2023.

The opportunity to join the bootcamp is available to the 1st place winners of the AR/VR Africa Hackathon. Where the 1st place team from a country/country group is unable to join the bootcamp for any reason, the opportunity is presented to the 2nd place winner from that country/country group.

The team in the bootcamp will be taught using a structured curriculum built around the start-up equation. The curriculum will be taught by industry experts.

The teams will be provided with both financial and technical aid to ensure that they are able to build their MVP during the bootcamp.

 

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This guide covers frequently asked questions participants, mentors and facilitators might have about using the Discord server and Github. This document does have exhaustive coverage of all issues participants might encounter but includes links to other resources that can provide help.

 

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GitHub is a website and cloud-based service that helps developers store and manage their code, as well as track and control changes to their code. In the case of the AR/VR Africa 2020 Hackathon, participants will be using Github to store their challenges and collaborate with other participants. 

 

The guide below will walk you through some basic actions you will need to carry out on Github during your online learning journey.

Creating A Repository On Github

A repository is a remote folder for your project. Your project's repository contains all of your project's files and stores each file's revision history. You can also discuss and manage your project's work within the repository.

After you create your repository on GitHub, you can customize its settings and content.

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About repository visibility

You can restrict who has access to a repository by choosing a repository's visibility: public, internal, or private.

Creating a new repository

You can create a new repository on your personal account or any organization where you have sufficient permissions.

Creating a repository from a template

You can generate a new repository with the same directory structure and files as an existing repository.

About READMEs

You can add a README file to your repository to tell other people why your project is useful, what they can do with your project, and how they can use it.

About code owners

You can use a CODEOWNERS file to define individuals or teams that are responsible for code in a repository.

About repository languages

The files and directories within a repository determine the languages that make up the repository. You can view a repository's languages to get a quick overview of the repository.

Creating a template repository

You can make an existing repository a template, so you and others can generate new repositories with the same directory structure, branches, and files.

Limits for viewing content and diffs in a repository

Certain types of resources can be quite large, requiring excessive processing on GitHub. Because of this, limits are set to ensure requests complete in a reasonable amount of time.

Duplicating a repository

To duplicate a repository without forking it, you can run a special clone command, then mirror-push to the new repository. For more information Creating a Repository, please follow this link

https://docs.github.com/en/github/creating-cloning-and-archiving-repositories/creating-a-repository-on-github

Cloning a repository from GitHub

You can clone a remote repository to your local machine. If you run into errors, there are some common troubleshooting solutions.

Cloning a repository

When you create a repository on GitHub, it exists as a remote repository. You can clone your repository to create a local copy on your computer and sync between the two locations.

HTTPS cloning errors

There are a few common errors when using HTTPS with Git. These errors usually indicate you have an old version of Git, or you don't have access to the repository.

Error: Repository not found

If you see this error when cloning a repository, it means that the repository does not exist or you do not have permission to access it. There are a few solutions to this error, depending on the cause.

Error: Remote HEAD refers to nonexistent ref, unable to checkout

This error occurs if the default branch of a repository has been deleted on GitHub.

For detailed information on Cloning a Repository, Please Follow the link below

https://docs.github.com/en/github/creating-cloning-and-archiving-repositories/cloning-a-repository-from-github

Creating And Editing Commits

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About commits

You can save small groups of meaningful changes as commits.

Creating a commit with multiple authors

You can attribute a commit to more than one author by adding one or more Co-authored-by trailers to the commit's message. Co-authored commits are visible on GitHub.

Creating a commit on behalf of an organization

You can create commits on behalf of an organization by adding a trailer to the commit's message. Commits attributed to an organization include an on-behalf-of badge on GitHub.

Changing a commit message

If a commit message contains unclear, incorrect, or sensitive information, you can amend it locally and push a new commit with a new message to GitHub. You can also change a commit message to add the missing information.

Get detailed information from the link below

https://docs.github.com/en/github/committing-changes-to-your-project/creating-and-editing-commits

Collaboration, Fork And Pull Request

Learn about the GitHub flow and different ways to collaborate on and discuss your projects.

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About forks

A fork is a copy of a repository that you manage. Forks let you make changes to a project without affecting the original repository. You can fetch updates from or submit changes to the original repository with pull requests.

About pull requests

Pull requests let you tell others about changes you've pushed to a branch in a repository on GitHub. Once a pull request is opened, you can discuss and review the potential changes with collaborators and add follow-up commits before your changes are merged into the base branch

Please follow the link below for a complete guide on how to Fork a Project, carryout a Pull Request and more

https://docs.github.com/en/github/collaborating-with-issues-and-pull-requests

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Discord gives you the power to create an invite-only home for your friends or community - a place where you can talk, hang out, and have fun. We call these special places - servers, and they look like this

 

What Is A Server?

You can join or create servers for all kinds of communities - be it a book club, a dance class, a study group, or just some friends you want to spend time with. 

How To Use Text And Voice Channels

Your server is made up of text channels and voice channels.

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Text Channels

Text channels are separate spaces for talking over text. They keep conversations organized and give everyone plenty of room to talk. Create separate channels for all the topics your group likes to talk about--from fishing trips to cooking tips.

Follow the link to learn more

https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360045138571-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Discord

Voice Channels

Voice channels are where you can hang out over voice and video. There’s no calling or ringing required - just click on a voice channel to enter it. Friends in your server can see you’re in there and pop in to talk, wave hello over the video, or share their screen.

Follow the link to learn more

https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360045138571-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Discord

How To Talk And Hang Out In Your Server

With voice channels, you can easily start chatting with your friends and community right away! Follow these guides below to learn how to voice chat, video chat, or share your screen or watch other people stream right within your server!

Follow the link to learn more

https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360045138571-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Discord

How To Voice Chat

Step 1: Join a Voice Channel!

Click a voice_channel.png voice channel in your server

 

Step 2: Start talking!

You should see a green outline around your avatar when you speak. 

 

If you need to adjust your voice settings, click the Vector_1.png cog icon to open your User Settings. On a desktop, you’ll find it in the lower-left corner of your server. From User Settings, head to Voice and Video settings to adjust your audio input, input sensitivity, and more.

 

Bonus Tip: You can adjust the volume of other people in the voice channel by right-clicking their avatar on a desktop, or pressing their name on mobile. 

Bonus tip: On a desktop, you can use Discord’s KRISP noise suppression to filter out unwanted background noise like lawnmowers or your neighbors' dog barking up a storm. 

You can enable KRISP from the Screenshot_21.png icon in the lower-left voice panel.

How To Video Chat

 

Step 1: Join a Voice Channel!

Click a voice_channel.png voice channel in your server

 

Step 2: Share your Video!

Press the Video button in the bottom left corner and your video will be added to the voice channel. If you navigate away from the channel, just click it again to bring up 

 

Follow the link to learn more 

https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360045138571-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Discord

 

To change your input device, click the cog icon to open your User Settings. 

On a desktop, you’ll find it in the lower-left corner of your server. From User Settings, head to Voice and Video settings to update your video input device.

How To Share Your Screen

Step 1: Join a Voice Channel!

Click a voice_channel.png voice channel in your server

 

Step 2: Activate screen share

Press the Screen icon in the voice status panel near the bottom left corner and a new window will pop out.

 

Step 3: Pick an application or screen to share

Select an individual application window to share, or select an entire screen to share.

 

Step 4: Go Live!

Press the "Go Live" button at the bottom of the window when you are ready to share your stream 

 

Special Note: At this time, audio sharing is only available when sharing an application window on Windows 10. Audio sharing is unavailable on Mac and Linux at this time.

How To Join And Watch A Stream Or Screen Share:

Step 1: Find a stream

Look for any people with the Live icon within a voice_channel.png voice channel

 

Step 2: Join the Stream

Click on the username of the broadcaster with the Live icon to automatically join the stream

Once you've joined, you can change the size and location of your viewing window. You can also control the stream’s audio from the volume icon while hovering over the stream.

 

Follow the link to learn more 

https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360045138571-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Discord

 

Other Helpful Discord Video Tutorials 

You can watch this step by step guide on how to use Discord https://youtu.be/le_CE--Mnvs

If that video doesn’t do it for you, try this one https://youtu.be/rnYGrq95ezA

 

We hope this guide is helpful, but if you have any problems and can’t seem to fix it on your own, we’ll be very happy to help. Just reach out to one of the monitors and someone Github and Discord savvy will get in touch with you.