The World's Biggest Hackathon – Full Documentary on Cal Hacks 2025

Jan 15, 2026 12:28 AM - 4 months ago 125079


This documentary will present you to the high-energy situation of Cal Hacks 2025, the world's largest collegiate hackathon, wherever complete 2,500 students stitchery astatine the erstwhile Exploratorium successful San Francisco to build innovative projects successful conscionable 36 hours. Quincy Larson interviews various teams to showcase divers creations ranging from AI-powered creation coaches and K-pop training apps to automated "burger bots" and deodorant-spraying robots. Throughout the event, participants navigate method challenges for illustration constricted Wi-Fi while demonstrating the aggravated activity ethic, ingenuity, and organization tone that specify modern developer culture. Learn much astir Cal Hacks: https://www.calhacks.io/ Chapters - 00:00 Introduction to Cal Hacks astatine the Exploratorium - 00:42 The Scope: 2,500 Participants & 36 Hours - 01:30 Exploring the Venue: Mezzanine to the Main Floor - 01:57 Interview: Team San Jose State University (Rapid Learning & Pressure) - 04:36 Interview: Anti-Deepfake Mobile App - Baran (Sacramento) - 05:16 Interview: AI Dungeon Master for D&D - Julian & Colin (Colgate University) - 07:27 Interview: Hackathon Project Management App - Kai, Ricardo, Kas - 08:24 Interview: Kahoot Clone - Ji, Gilbert, Marian, Jason - 09:31 Sepehr the Shark and Scenes - 10:58 Interview: AI Dance Coach - Kai (UVA) & Ethan (Cal State Fullerton) - 12:56 The Air Mattress Monoliths: Preparing to Sleep Under Tables - 13:28 Interview: ASL Translator & Education Tools - Tri & Team - 14:52 Interview: Spaced Repetition Information Retention - Nina, Krishna, Viha - 16:12 Interview: Mentoring the Next Generation of Builders - Chinat Yu (Mentor Mates) - 18:33 Interview: Advice for Competitive vs. Casual Hackers - Andrew (Volunteer) - 22:33 Interview: Reducing Latency successful LLM Development - Alex, Nathan, Abek, Prada - 24:18 End of Day One: The 36-Hour Countdown - 24:47 Day Two: Chasing Wi-Fi Waves & Hotspot Contraband - 26:23 Interview: Trust Score Project (Credit Solutions for Immigrants) - - 27:39 The "Sleep Scale": From 48 Hours Awake to Naps connected Chairs - 29:38 Interview: Finding Authentic Friction Points - Sophia (Big Tech PM) - 30:53 Sophia’s Story: Turning Guitar Tabs into Sheet Music - 33:01 Interview: VR Chat pinch AI Agents - 33:25 Interview: Janitor Turned Dev - Shane - 34:12 Interview: Creating a Safe Space for Innovation - Vincent (Sponsor) - 35:30 Demo: Spaced Repetition UI/UX Reveal - Nina, Krishna, Viha - 37:36 Demo: Elastic Brew (Telemetry-Powered Espresso Machine) - - 39:31 Interview: Health Data App - Alex - 40:32 Interview: Tactile Senses for the Visually Impaired - Cedric, Shao, David, Jin - 41:39 Interview: High-Pressure Environments - Isasaki - 43:06 Final 11 Hours: Ingenuity connected Display - 44:19 Interview: Managing 2,700 Developers - Dylan (Organizer) - 46:26 Interview: The 9-Month Planning Sprint - Sam (Organizer) - 51:14 Day Three: Code Lock & Proof of Concept - 51:26 Demo: Automated Food Assembly - Princess, Zaira, Bhavya, Gabriele - 53:00 Demo: Meight - Artem & Satya - 54:30 Demo: Deodorant Robot - E, Mohammad, Nick, Eric - 55:48 Demo: Voice Agent for ADHD Task Management - Maya, Candy, Hamad, Seif - 57:41 Demo: Figure Flow - Payne, Michael, Joey - 1:00:00 Demo: Recall Me - Abbey, Neha, Rudrika, Manchika - 1:02:25 Demo: AI Government Tools - Angad, Sanjay, Rohan, Preet, Likhit - 1:04:19 Demo: Desktop Automation - Hem, Pritish, Krishiv - 1:05:12 Demo: Stock Explained - Saline, Anish, Kim - 1:06:49 Demo: Persisting Context Across LLMs - Brenden, Katie, Jeana - 1:09:55 Demo: VR Driver’s Ed pinch AI Feedback - Lukas, Shashwat, Brian - 1:11:48 Demo: Group "Vibe" Restaurant Selection - Colin, Rick, Derek, Marvin - 1:14:41 Demo: Platypus Academy - Kate & Andrew - 1:16:43 Demo: K-pop Demon Hunters Academy - Skyler, Caleb, Kenneth, Sreerag - 1:19:04 Closing Thoughts: Why You Should Attend a Hackathon
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