Students take part in Microsoft Band Hackathon

At Microsoft Ventures Whitechapel, David Xiao and Mark Menezes from UCL Computer Science (BSC and MEng First Years) took part in a prestigious early access hackathon of the yet-to-the-released in the UK Microsoft Band

(http://www.microsoft.com/Microsoft-Band/en-us)

After arriving early in the afternoon, the students along with other participants were briefed with a short presentation about the Microsoft Band, describing the capabilities of the Microsoft Band, and potential uses.

When the presentation ended, ideas for apps were discussed, where David came up with the idea of creating an app that forced its user to do some exercise. The idea behind the application is that after the user sets a time, the application will wake up the phone, and will sound an alarm. This alarm can only be disabled when the user reaches a certain user-defined heart beat level.

After a sleepless night, David and Mark succeeded in creating such an application, having never developed an Android application beforehand. This demonstrated how simple the SDK for the Microsoft Band was to use. Mark gave the application the name HeartWatch, as it keeps a watch on the user’s heart rate.

The next morning, the participating groups were asked to make a short presentation on what they had achieved overnight, and what they head learnt from the experience. Overall view was that the SDK was very easy to use, and the Microsoft Band itself had left an impressive first impression.

HeartWatch received a warm reception. Whereas the other participating teams had achieved applications that had serious connotations, HeartWatch provided a more amusing approach to what could be achieved with the Microsoft Band. When the final participating team concluded their presentation, they were greeted by a surprise where they were allowed to keep the Microsoft Band that they had been using to develop.