Timing Matters: A Hackathon for Precision in EEG and VR

Join us for a one-day, hands-on hackathon to help finalise and open-source a low-cost device for measuring input-to-display latency — essential for EEG and VR research where millisecond accuracy is critical.

💸 Everyone who takes part will be paid — all participants will receive a £60 participation voucher, and we’re awarding £3,000 in total prize money across a wide range of award categories.

🏆 Award categories include:

• Best Overall Contribution
• Best Integration (EEG, VR, or software)
• Best Innovation or Utility
• Best Documentation and Usability
• Individual MVPs and Wildcards for standout contributions
  

We’re looking for enthusiastic researchers, developers, and tool builders who want to contribute to a globally relevant open science tool — whether through coding, prototyping, testing, or documentation.

Organised by the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, in collaboration with the Centre for Immersive Technologies and the Global Brain Consortium.

🧪 What Will You Do?

You’ll join a small, focused group of researchers, developers, and engineers to work on:

Firmware

The device firmware, written in Rust could be improved to improve performance; this would mean the resolution of the measurements would be higher.

Analysis toolkit

Work on improved code for analysing and visualizing data collected (e.g. Python, Unity integrations)

User Interface

End-users operate the device through a platform-independent desktop app, built with Flutter (Dart), but it's basic and could do with more functionality.

Website and end-user documentation, marketing

Design and write website material, end-user documentation, packaging design, icons.

Develop or improve EEG/VR synchronisation workflows

Think of ways to more easily integrate with lab setups

Stress-test accuracy and reproducibility

Perform measurements and contribute to the scientific basis

Document workflows and prepare for GitHub release

Help us make the project more accessible to new contributors

Hardware: Enclosure

Improve sturdiness and aesthetics of 3D filament printed enclosure

Hardware: Microphone

The current design only detects visual stimuli. We envision adding a sound meter to detect auditory stimuli (Arduino).

Hardware: wireless design

The current design requires a continuous USB connection to a host laptop. An alternative design would log data to solid state memory, or buffer and transmit wirelessly. This could mean longer or more highly resolved measurements.

🧑‍💻 Who Should Attend?

This event is ideal for:

• Neuroscience and VR researchers
• Engineers and open science tool builders
• Developers with experience in Python, Rust, Dart, Arduino, or Unity.
  

Some programming experience is required. You don’t need to be an expert — just confident enough to engage with technical projects and collaborate on debugging, scripting, or prototyping.

🏆 Prizes & Recognition

We’re offering £3,000 in prize money, including:

• Team Awards for Best Contribution, Best Integration, Best Documentation, and more
• Individual MVP Awards for outstanding effort, creativity, or collaboration
• Participation Vouchers — everyone will receive a £60 voucher as a token of thanks and to help offset personal travel or time costs

🧰 What’s Provided

All hardware, test rigs, and integration setups
Power, WiFi, whiteboards, and hacking space
Catering all day: coffee, lunch, snacks, and drinks

💻 Bring Your Own Laptop (If You Can!)

To keep things moving quickly, we strongly recommend bringing your own laptop, ideally with tools like Arduino IDE, Python, or Unity installed in advance. We’ll provide pre-event setup guidance.

A small number of loaner laptops will be available — please let us know in your registration if you’ll need one.

✍️ How to Apply

Due to space and team size limits, we’re inviting a maximum of 15 participants. Please apply via Eventbrite by clicking “Reserve a Spot.” You’ll be asked to answer a few short questions about your experience and interests.

We’ll confirm selected participants by email. If you’re not selected this time, we’ll keep you in the loop for future events and collaborations.