Networking gear major Cisco hosted the first edition of ThingHack: Healthcare - the Internet of Things Hackathon last week in Bangalore, presented by IoTBLR - an open community for IoT enthusiasts.
The two-day healthcare and wellness hackathon witnessed participation from 30 individuals who conceptualized, designed and made prototypes of connected healthcare devices that would benefit the society.
ThingHack received over 150 registrations which were narrowed down to 30 based on their ideas, skillsets and interviews conducted by a panel of technology mentors & experts. The shortlisted participants comprised of students, budding entrepreneurs and corporate employees.
Besides hosting the event, Cisco and IoTBLR brought together the IoT ecosystem of technology experts, IoT champions and domain experts who mentored participants and offered training sessions on various topics. The event also involved various Cisco partners and companies from across the globe such as Madrid-based Carriots and London-based Evrythng who offered their IoT solutions and remote support to the participants through the event.
Unlike most hackathons, ThingHack provided both, hardware and software to the participants that included sensors, kits, development boards, components, medical devices, IoT cloud platforms and hardware tools that helped the developers give shape to their concepts. The other interesting aspect was the presence of 3D printing start-up Fracktal Works who brought their 3D printer that allows the participants to make 3D prototypes of their ideas.
Aimed at promoting collaboration among participants, the event also included a 'Collaboration Challenge' that encouraged two teams to collaborate and use their solutions to develop a product.
Smart Insulin pen built by the team of Devanjan Maiti, Chayatan, Manish DM from RV College of Engineering in Bangalore was adjudged the best prototype at the end of the event.
