The second Hackathon of the MONICA project took place on 26th to 28th October 2018 in Leeds. Seven teams from Finland, Germany, Spain and the UK took part in the challenge for designing digital technologies that could help enhance sports fan engagement and experience at the stadium.
The winner Pauline O’Callaghan impressed the jury with a solution for augmented hearing that enables stadium visitors to control their auditory environment during games. Pauline O’Callaghan, a young electronic engineer from Berlin, won €5000 prize money with her winning solution ‘Hearability’.
The solution, an augmented hearing device for spectators with the mission of giving everyone control over their auditory environment, makes events safer and more inclusive to all. O’Callaghan presented several use cases including one that enables turning down the volume of a game when listening to what your friend is saying next to you and turning it up again when finished. The judges, including innovation and technical experts as well as stadium and project representatives, were impressed by the inclusivity aspect and the variety of possible use cases inside the stadium and elsewhere. As part of the prize, Pauline O’Callaghan will now receive six months of business support from MONICA to help her progress her winning prototype.