This year, Mozilla and SPARK! invite you to think about the problems posed and solved by the Internet of Things (IoT). The Internet of Things is made up of all the “smart” devices worldwide that communicate with one another - and can be controlled - over the internet. Connected devices like watches that talk to our phones and wi-fi enabled lights and thermostats are some of the objects that “live” inside the Internet of Things, an emerging field in need of diverse voices, designers, and stakeholders.
(inspired by the hackathon.guide)
- Remember your hackathon audience. In this case, it’s high schoolers who probably have no previous experience with hackathons, but are inspired by the idea of helping solve a real-world problem. One of the most important things we can do is help students make a connection between creating tech and making a difference in the world.
- Clearly articulate the problem. Your project should have a clear guiding question and even some suggestions for approaches to take toward a solution.
- Manage expectations. There will not be enough time in the hackathon to come up with a final solution. Help manage the project goals so that participants are able to feel some accomplishments.
- Embrace failure. Just as important, if not more, are getting through the failures. Celebrate each hurdle that is overcome and if possible, help participants reflect on what they learned.
- Be prepared for a variety of backgrounds. There should be a list of ready-to-go tasks that anybody could pick up with a few minutes of instruction.
(all problems should include a Vision, Problem Statement & Approach)
It’s Your Network; Wear it in Plain Sight Friends want to hang out with friends. They want a mix of public space where they can be together and privacy so they can know and trust everyone there.
The internet can help make spaces like that possible, but, increasingly, the networks we join are massive and controlled by a few centralized companies like Facebook and Google.
What if we built our own community from hardware, software, and relationships that we make for ourselves? What if we built a network just for us - for the friends we trust the most? How would we keep it independent and resilient - strong enough to work without help from social media giants? How might we include and invite everyone we want to?
This is our chance to build our community on the Internet of Things. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of connected devices that let us interact with the web through apps and objects. It’s not just our phones; it’s the computers in cars’ navigation systems and the lights we can turn on before we get home. We can also bake it into books, clothes, and toys. We can add to the Internet of Things anywhere we can fasten a network connection to an object and run some code. What if you communicated by book, backpack, or hoodie?
Your challenge is to create your own network of connected objects that you can use to achieve some of these aims:
- Communicate privately.
- Make and share things with one another.
- Establish and build trust between community members by building in features for privacy, authenticity (people are who they say they are), and integrity (messages aren’t hacked).
- Stay in contact even when more centralized networks crash or you lose access to an account or device (like when a phone goes out of service).
- Provide inexpensive, fair access to the network for everyone you trust to join.
The big idea is to create a network of connected devices that helps you in turn build a trusted network. As you prototype and build your devices and network, consider some questions like these:
Communication
- How will network members communicate with one another? Will you encrypt your communication?
- Will you use screens or other forms feedback, like buzzers or lights?
- Will your network be for messaging only, or for messaging and file-sharing?
Devices
- What devices will you build for your network? Where will it live, physically?
- Are there every day objects in your life you can enhance with IoT to build the network?
- Are there things you and your peers wear or want to wear that could be your devices?
Purpose
- What kind of network do you want? How will it feel to be a part of this group? How will it work?
- What needs will your network fulfill? What will it do for you and your peers?
- Why will you and your peers use this network instead of others?
Resilience
- How will you make sure your network remains independent of larger social networks?
- How will you make sure your devices can communicate if other networks go down/lose service like in an emergency or storm?
- How will you help keep the network from crashing if just one “expert” leaves?
Trust
- How will you manage trust in the network? How will people learn about it? How will they know how to join, participate, and leave? How will you decide how they join, participate and leave?
- How will you know who each person is on the network? How will you know they are who they say they are?
- How will you treat each other in this network? What behaviour will not be tolerated?
Examples
You can prototype on paper or with hardware and software. Be sure to licence your work openly to share with others! For example, you can use a Creative Commons licences to help others learn to create their own networks from your experiences.