FirstBuild, a global co-creation community backed by GE Appliances, a Haier company, announced the winners of its annual “Hack the Home” Mega Hackathon challenge. Teams of more than 200 makers, engineers, programmers, tech enthusiasts, students and designers converged at FirstBuild’s microfactory in Louisville (Kentucky, USA) to design, build, code and hack the next generation of smart appliances. More than 10,000 dollars in cash and other prizes were awarded. With access to advanced manufacturing tools such as 3D printers, laser cutters, wood engraving machines, water jets, CNC mills, Bridgeport mills, welding, hand power tools and soldering stations, the teams worked to conceive and create smart appliances they would want in their own homes to make their lives easier.
The top teams were:
-1st place, DIVI: it is an advanced kitchen faucet with the potential to dispense ice, water, carbonated beverages and more.
-2nd place, Fridge VZN: it is a technology that makes shopping easier for consumers. Using an image recognition API and a camera, Fridge VZN gives the user an up-to-date list of fridge content.
-3rd place, The Lazier Susan: it is an Amazon Alexa-integrated smart spice rack that enables users to verbally request a spice and have it delivered on command.
