‘This is big for Brisbane’: QUT team takes second place at international VR hackathon
Ever felt that your mind was an unorganised mess? A team of QUT virtual reality (VR) designers have used that concept for a game that grabbed second place at the 2018 Global VR Hackathon in Shanghai.
First published 18 January 2019
Daniel Tan, Sam Vidler and Thomas Knowles represented Australia at the international event after their team claimed victory at the Queensland VR Hackathon.
‘The Aussies’ went up against the best teams from around the world including Germany, Austria, Shanghai, Singapore and Taipei.
The team used the topic of ‘memory’ to create the VR game ‘Memory Keeper’, where the player must organise and dispense memories inside a virtual headspace.
"The way that players manage all of the memories is what makes the game challenging and fun," Daniel said.
"There is a time limit which can only be extended if the player enters the correct memory when the game requests it.
"The openness of the space in the game allows players to organise and play the way they want while at the same time experiencing the chaotic nature of rummaging through a large collection of memories."
Course coordinator Dr Ross Brown said the course prepares students for the challenges of VR development.
“Here at QUT, we have one of the longest-running courses in Australia focused on interactive entertainment,” he said.
“We provide students the opportunity to work within a simulated startup environment with the goal of publishing a game.
“We are actively pushing into virtual reality and augmented reality teaching to engage with the current industry trends and provide students opportunities to work with local and international start-ups.”
You can find out more about the hackathon by visiting the VRCore website.
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