On August 3rd, the largest hackathon in the world concluded, bringing almost 3,000 app makers and coders into a fierce competition for the biggest prize ($265,000). It was called the Hajj Hackathon and managed to smash the Guinness World Record for the largest hackathon in the world.
Pitching in front of an all-star jury panel which also had Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, the finalists showed off quite a few great ideas. The big winner?
An all-female team of four Saudi app makers who pitched Tarjuman, an Android-exclusive app, and walked home with a cool $265,000 Through Tarjuman, pilgrims in areas with spotty Internet connections will still be able to navigate around safely. Using QR codes on signboards around cities like that, Tarjuman would let tourists translate the indications simply by scanning the code in question, without having to use the Internet.
The second place and its $130,000 prize were won by an Egyptian team of three, who proposed a mobile wallet designed for pilgrims visiting Saudi Arabia for Hajj or Umrah. This idea too used QR codes for quick, convenient scanning at vendors.
In third place, an Algerian team was rewarded around $100,000 for pitching a social-media heavy app that, using facial recognition and location tagging, would let Hajj pilgrims document their trip just for friends and family.
That last idea sounds like the perfect way to manage any activity-heavy trip without updating your Instagram Lite every few minutes, right?
Also read: ✍The Vatican Will Have Its First Hackathon In History✍
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