We're excited to announce our first challenge for 2024,  the 8th Wall Time Capsule Challenge. This first challenge is an opportunity for developers to flex their creative muscles and push the boundaries of WebAR experiences. The Time Capsule Challenge will run from February 6th to March 25th and is an opportunity to not only show off your technological skills but lead audiences through a voyage through time by blending history, culture, and WebAR together for a powerful immersive experience.

The Challenge Awaits, Let's Begin!

Our journey with the Time Capsule Challenge begins with the 'Info + Ideation’ event. Here, you'll gain valuable insights into the theme and objectives, and spark your imagination with an ideation session to iron out your ideas. Following this, we delve deeper with '8Talks: Using WebAR for Historical Preservation,' where our friends from ROSE Digital share how WebAR can be a powerful tool for capturing and immortalizing historical moments. The final event will be 'Cre8te: Teleport Users Anywhere in Time Using WebAR,' a workshop focused on a hands-on walkthrough of building a portal + VPS experience. 

Chances to win prizes totaling $15K 

The grand finale of our Time Capsule challenge will be the awarding of the 'Era Innovator' Grand Prize of $5,000, celebrating the entry that most impressively embodies our criteria of Time Traveler, Innovation, Niantic’s Mission, and Completeness. Alongside this prestigious award, we'll recognize outstanding achievements in other categories with the 'Timeless Creativity Prize,' 'Temporal-Geographic Explorer Prize,' 'Historian’s Choice Prize,' and the 'Cultural Heritage Prize.'

Criteria 

Judging will be based on these four criteria:

• Time Traveler: Does your experience creatively and effectively embody the concept of time travel, through historical accuracy, futuristic innovation, or seamless integration of different time periods?
• Innovation: Have you used 8th Wall features to bring new, fresh ideas to life?
• 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?