Can we build applications and systems that deliver business and commercial value with, or within, the Metaverse?

The aim of this year’s Atos IT Challenge is to produce an application that demonstrates a practical Metaverse use case that will deliver business value.

Technology – Areas of investigation

Possible area of investigation:

• Digital Twins and digital worlds (Operating)
• Computer interfaces (Relating)
• Data ecosystems and economies (Value)
• AI (Being)

Technologies of interest:

• VR/AR/MR platforms – Oculus Rift and Quest, Microsoft Hololens, Valve Index, HTC Vive and others
• Universal Scene Description (USD) specification for 3D computer graphics interchange
• Blender, Apple’s Scenekit, Autodesk 3ds Max
• SteamVR, OpenXR
• Blockchain and NFTs

Possible applications – ideas to get you started:

• Use of Virtual reality, Augmented Reality or Mixed Reality systems to provide new business working environments
• Interaction with, or complimentary functionality, for collaboration technologies such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom
• A Metaverse match-maker; facilitating one-to-one introductions of business colleagues
• New education and training experiences
• Visualization and modelling of real-world systems
• Market-specific applications in, for instance, Healthcare, Finance, Manufacturing, Transport, Retail…
• A simulated virtual economy for the Metaverse
• A business-oriented version of Sandbox
• Additions to existing Metaverse environments for business applications

Objectives:

The objective of our IT Challenge is to promote and encourage innovation in an open environment amongst best-in-class universities and students and to support young professionals and innovators in taking their solution forward.

Step 1. Read the rules here: https://www.atositchallenge.net/rules

• 2- 5 members
• University students
• The contest is open to students enrolled at university or in an engineering school during the academic year 2022-2023, from any grade.
• The contest requires a good level of English both verbal and in writing as this is the spoken language of the contest.
• Each university or school will be able to present as many teams as they prefer, and each team will have to be composed by a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 5 members. All teams must be formed from students of the same university.
• Participation in the contest shall be formalized by each team registering online via the official contest website and fully submitting their application
• No entries from Atos employees, graduates, interns or apprentices that are a paid employee of Atos during the competition will be accepted to avoid perceived advantage.

Step 2. Figure out ideas with your team

Step 3. Register your team with your University e-mail address here: https://www.atositchallenge.net/register/

Step 4. Fight to win

The criteria to select the finalists and the winning projects will be:

Phase 1- Pre-selection phase:

• Coherence with the theme
• Benefit of the service for end-users (Is it useful? Does it bring something new?)
• Benefit of the service for business partners
• Personal feeling (Originality, Do I like it?)
• Reality of business model (Feasibility, Market size, Ecosystem, Risks, etc.)
• Technical feasibility (Architecture, Project plan, etc.)

Phase 2- Development and presentation phase:

• Benefit of the service for end-users (Is it useful? Does it bring something new?)
• Benefit of the service for business partners
• Look and feel (Design, Ergonomy, Simplicity, Do I want to use it?)
• How far is go to market? (Key partnership required, Risks, Market size)
• Technical quality
• Excellence bonus! (Only for 1 project by each jury member)

Each of the shortlisted teams will receive a coach assigned to support them during the Development Phase of the IT Challenge. The coaches belong to Atos Scientific Community and provide help with technical and business insights, as well as advice to improve their all-important presentation skills necessary for business in the technology world.

Step 5. Get the prize

Prizes for all participants:

• All finalists in the IT Challenge will be invited to apply for an internship to work as part of the Atos organization.
• For information on the Atos internship opportunities and how to apply, please visit the “About Atos” section.

The final Jury will select 1 winner and 2 finalists:

• 1st Prize: €10,000
• 2nd Prize: €5,000
• 3rd Prize: €3,000

Atos will also appoint a special “IT Challenge” HR point of contact, for those members of the winning and finalist teams that may wish to apply directly for an internship or employment opportunity within Atos.

Step 6. IPR

All intellectual property rights (IPR) in the solution submitted as part of the contest shall remain the ownership of the team submitting such solution.

However, by entering the IT Challenge, the team members each individually, for whole or their part, grant a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide license to Atos and its affiliates for the use of the solution and all associated IPR for internal research and marketing purposes (including the right to sub-license).

In addition, the participants each individually, for whole or their part, grant an option to Atos to transform their non-exclusive license into an exclusive license on all IPR vested in their solution for the purpose of commercial exploitation.