Hack at UCI Hosts Hybrid HackUCI 2022

March 4, 2022

Hack at UCI hosted its annual HackUCI hackathon, the largest collegiate hackathon in Orange County, in a hybrid format on Feb. 25-27. With more than 300 students in attendance from over 10 different schools, HackUCI 2022 proved to be a hit once again and generated projects ranging from artificial intelligence models to fitness applications.

Hacks were judged based on the technology used to build the project, the quality of the project and the purpose of the project. Here are the winning hacks from HackUCI 2022: 

Best Overall Hack: ukr.ai
In light of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the team behind ukr.ai created an AI model that detects misinformation on social media networks “to help counteract the damage done by disinformation and propaganda campaigns.” Users can enter information or a link to a tweet in the ukr.ai text box. The application uses OpenAI’s GPT-3 model to determine whether or not the information is true. 

ukr.ai was created by:

  • Patrick Hu: junior computer science major, UCI
  • Tan Huynh: junior computer engineering major, UCI
  • Stella Zhou: junior computer engineering major and accounting minor, UCI
  • Pranav Grover: junior electrical and computer engineering major, Santa Clara University
  • Alex Rabinovich: junior computational mathematics major, UC Riverside

Best Overall Hack Runner-Up: tell-a-vision
Tell-a-vison brings stories to life by compiling photos to create a moving storyboard. You can “tell-a-vize” your own story by recording yourself reciting a script, which will be read back to you with additional sitcom laugh tracks. The tell-a-vision team used the Web Search API to search for relevant images based on your recorded story and produce a video with those images and your audio. 

tell-a-vision was created by:

Google Cloud Platform Hack: Zuber
Carpooling is a convenient and environmentally friendly commuting option, but sometimes it can be a nightmare to plan. However, by creating an event page on the Zuber app and adding attendees, passengers and drivers are paired up based on distance so that drivers pick up passengers who are closest to them. Zuber also automatically creates a group chat with drivers and passengers who are in the same car. 

Zuber was created by:

  • Ethan Nguyen: junior computer science major, UCI
  • Chris Tian: junior computer science major, UCI
  • Jane Vo: junior computer science major, UCI
  • Alec Chen: senior computer science major and sociology minor, UCI

Google Cloud Platform Hack Runner-Up and Most Polished Game: ZotGuessr
Do you know the UCI campus like the back of your hand? You can test your knowledge of the campus layout and learn fun facts about UCI with the web-based app ZotGuessr. Players select where they think a building is on the app’s Google Maps interface, and the closer they are to the building’s actual location, the more points they get.

ZotGuessr was built by:

Best Use of Mage API for AI/ML (Mage) and Best AI Hack (AI@UCI): Biascope
Biascope “empowers users to be active consumers of news” with artificial intelligence. The Biascope team utilized Mage AI’s platform to train a classification algorithm that identifies and highlights biased language in articles, which can encourage readers to think more critically about the information they’re learning and how language affects their understanding.

Biascope was created by: 

  • Tae Wook (Terry) Kim: sophomore computer science engineering major with minors in mathematics and business analytics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
  • Ravi Riley: sophomore electrical engineering and computer science major, UC Berkeley
  • Jad Soucar: sophomore mathematics major and philosophy minor, UCLA

Best UI/UX: move.io
Exercising at home can be challenging when you lack motivation or the assistance of a trainer. move.io aims to make fitness at home more consistent, engaging and safe. Their website includes a variety of tools and resources, from sharing online workouts to providing real-time feedback on user performance. 

move.io was created by:

  • Shawn Cho: junior computer science major and mathematics minor, University of Washington
  • Woo Young Kim: junior human centered design engineer major, University of Washington
  • Sohshun Tateishi: junior geography data science major, University of Washington

Best Product Pitch (MAISS) and Social Good Hack: Waitless
Waitless hopes to make going to the Anteater Recreation Center less stressful. Students can log into the Waitless app and join a queue to use a gym machine. When the equipment is ready to use, they’ll receive a text message informing them that it’s their turn. Once a student is at the machine, they’ll scan a QR code to confirm that they’re currently using it and then remove themselves from the queue when they’re finished. 

Waitless was created by:

  • Brandon Chan: freshman computer science major, UCI
  • Lee Austin Uy: sophomore software engineering major, UCI
  • Emil Zublin: sophomore computer science and engineering major, UCI
  • Adil Quamar: junior computer science and engineering major, UCI
  • Abhishek Jha: graduate computer science student, UCI 

Best Meme/Joke Hack:  Color “Meme”
Color “Meme” makes coloring a social activity by generating random memes that users can color and then send to their friends. In the future, the Color “Meme” team hopes to offer new game modes in their virtual coloring book that allows users to interact with their friends in real-time. 

Color “Meme” was created by:

  •  Noah Jacinto: sophomore computer science major, California State University, Long Beach
  • Alex Vega: sophomore computer science major, California State University, Long Beach 

Best Beginner Hack: Zotciety
If you feel like you’ve lost all of your social skills during these past two years, why not try out Zotciety? The web-based application helps you connect with others by answering ZotPrompts (ice-breaker questions) and completing ZotTrials (challenges that encourage you to socialize in person). Points from ZotTrials are recorded on a ZotBoard. 

Zotciety was created by: 

Hacker’s Choice: Steam Game Compiler
Steam Game Compiler is the perfect app for those who play Steam games. It provides users quick access to information about Steam games, such as positive and negative ratings, number of active players, current news. This information helps players quickly decide whether or not they want to play and purchase a game.

Steam Game Compiler was created by:

All projects from HackUCI 2022 participants can be found at the HackUCI 2022 Devpost. 

Hack at UCI will collaborate with Women in Information and Computer Science to hold VenusHacks, UCI’s largest women-centric hackathon, in the spring 2022 quarter.

— Karen Phan