Extentia Information Technology organized yet another edition of X24, the company’s premier hackathon event, with this season focusing on SMART technologies. The 24-hour hackathon took place on September 19 – 20 and featured the best, the brightest, and the most creative minds in the Extentia family in a race against the clock to create solutions all the way from concept to pitch. Six teams made up of a precise combination of coders, designers, and sales representatives banded together to solve a set of challenge statements that pushed their abilities to the very limit.

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About the SmartScape Technology Theme

The theme for this year was SmartScape technologies and their application towards benefiting and improving the locales that we inhabit. Every single day, Extentia along with their exemplary partners and associates aim to provide the world with the tools, the technologies, and the tenacity to face challenges as daunting as climate change and resource scarcity. X24 Season 5 focused on harnessing the full measure of Extentia’s developmental, technical, and creative capabilities; directing them towards creating theoretical SmartScape solutions that fundamentally change the paradigm of how technology can improve the spaces around while remaining sustainable, feasible, and cost-effective.

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The X24 Teams

X24 Season 5 featured an eclectic mix of developers, designers, and sales specialists who all came together within their respective houses in pursuit of a common goal. A number of exciting pre-events took place in the lead up including a SMART Quiz and a SMART Creatathon. The winning houses of these events won unique advantages going into the actual competition. The SMART Quiz winners got to pick the best tables and preferred cabins while the Creatathon winners were allowed to select their challenge statements from a defined set.

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Challenge Statements

The challenge statements for X24 Season 5 were as follows:

 

SMART Highway

A stretch of a new highway is in need of repair work, as a result, traffic has been operating through a single lane. The objective is to create a solution which will help them to monitor and manage traffic by providing users with proper signals for speed limits, changing street lights based on vehicle movement, and notifying nearby vehicles of congestions.

 

SMART Toll

A newly developed highway needs a SMART toll system, the manager of this plaza wants to create a seamless experience for vehicles and manage any emergency situations. The aim is to develop a solution that will display the speed limit, optimize lane traffic to avoid congestion, collect toll charges based on vehicle type and weight, capture a vehicle’s image, open/close the toll gate, and alert authorities in case of non-payment of toll charges.

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SMART Fire Control

The goal is to create a set of SMART safety features that can detect a fire and sound an alarm, displaying the fire’s location on public screens, showing emergency exit lights, notifying customers and employees about evacuation plan and emergency services, and sharing the GPS location with the fire station for a large shopping mall.

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SMART Store

Teams are required to develop a SMART customer experience for a new up-and-coming store in a city. This is to be done by tracking energy consumption based on lighting and cooling, changing the fan speed based on room size and the number of people, tracking the product inventory based on pressure on the shelves, displaying temperature, and screening product advertisements when someone passes by a specific location.

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SMART Farm

The objective is to create a SMART solution that enhances traditional agricultural practices by enabling farms to seamlessly switch their electricity between the State Electricity Board and a windmill. Farms should be able to control lighting for better growth of the plants, schedule watering based on the weather and fixed schedule, start/stop water pumps based on water levels, measure truck weight while leaving the farm with produce, maintain an appropriate temperature for the plants, and geofence livestock.

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SMART Home

Teams are required to integrate a house with SMART home technology so as to change home light intensity based on ambient light, play music based on the specific time of the day and presence in the house, switch fan on/off with required intensity based on room temperature and humidity, stop an alarm clock buzzer based on pressure, switch home electric power between the State Electricity Board and a solar panel, open and close the home garage gate based on car arrival/departure, and evaluate electric vehicle battery level.

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Gurus and Coaches

Creating the most innovative SMART solution for a cityscape is no easy task by any stretch of the imagination. Luckily for the teams, they had the help of some of the brightest minds and the most daring innovators from the Indian tech industry. For 24 hours these tech pioneers were Extentia’s very special guests; assisting each team with a particular aspect of their project as they aimed to formulate a solution that integrated SMART technologies into the spaces around.

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Live Feed and Social Media

X24 was run by a comprehensive support staff made up of Extentia’s system administration team and a special crew that managed a live feed through the entire event. The live feed showcased photos, videos, hourly updates, and a busy comments section. The hackathon was also live-tweeted over 24-hours, along with updates on Facebook. Twitter posts were favorited and retweeted extensively using the hashtags ‘#HackathonX24’, ‘#Smartscape’, and ‘#X24’.

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Event Partners

Once again, X24 attracted several event partners who offered generous prizes and support for the teams. This included Baraza, Dario’s, Dentalogy, Du Village, GreenTokri, High Spirits, Kwizine, Malaka Spice, Noodle Canteen, Sontiq, Tanisq, Terttulia, The Chocolate Spoon, The Sassy Spoon, Titan Eye Plus, and Wicked China. 

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“X24 Season 5 was an exceptional showcase of talent, innovation, adaptability, and tenacious self-belief,” said Umeed Kothavala, CEO, Extentia. “The teams took to this year’s theme of SmartScape technology like proverbial ducks to water and managed to pitch viable, innovative, and sustainable SMART solutions that surpassed the lofty standards of both our panel of judges as well as our coaches. As the virtual and the physical integrate more and more, the ability of our multifaceted teams to adapt and integrate SMART technology is going to become of paramount importance. I can’t wait to see how our teams use the experience they’ve gained to benefit our real-world endeavors.” 

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Look up www.x24.extentia.com to learn more about X24.2019 and the past events.

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More information

To know more about Extentia’s offerings and to schedule demos, please write to inquiries (at) extentia.com, or call +91 20 6728 5200 (India) / +1-408-627-4094 (United States).

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About Extentia® Information Technology
A global technology and services firm that helps clients transform and realize their digital strategies. With a unique Experience Centric Transformation approach, Extentia’s ground-breaking solutions are in the space of mobile, cloud, and design. The team is differentiated by an emphasis on excellent design skills that they bring to every project. Focused on enterprise mobility, cloud computing, and user experiences, Extentia strives to accomplish and surpass their customers’ business goals. The company’s inclusive work environment and culture inspire team members to be innovative and creative, and to provide clients with an exceptional partnership experience.
www.extentia.com