This week, we held the first ever Simpleweb Challenge hack night, and it was awesome.

We split into teams and created video-themed apps using TokBox’s OpenTok WebRTC platform which allows developers to integrate live, face-to-face video directly into web and mobile apps. Fuelled by craft ale, proper cider and a homemade feast from GeekFeeder, we set to work.

The creators of the best 2 apps (chosen by TokBox’s Roland Drewell) would win either a GoPro Hero or an Ouya games console.

And the entries were…

With just 3 hours to think up and create a working app, entrants were pushed to their limits.

The entries, in order of presentation on the night, were…

Potat.io

Created by @t_pk, @misifurry, @issunboshi

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Bringing Mr Potato Head to video chat, Potat.io allows users to add novelty moustaches, mouths and eyes to their faces during video chat.

Pair With Me

Created by @zot24, @createdbypete

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A pair programming service with video and text chat through the TokBox data signals and a collaborative text editor allowing both parties to work on the same file in real-time. The code is available here.

Pete and Israel also came up with Voyeur It, allowing users to advertise the date and time of any event and live stream it from your mobile phone so friends who subscribe can see it too.

Talktok

Created by @sammachin

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Talktok aims to replace phone numbers with URLs, using WebRTC. The intended end result is that you can grab a bunch of HTML, CSS & Javascript and dump that on your site, at which point people can then call you by visiting that URL. Unlike Hangouts, Facetime or Skype, you don’t need an account to make a call, just a browser and the URL.

More on this at http://talkproject.org, which Sam is continuing to develop.

Eyes In The Back Of Your Head

Created by @dmcropley, @gghopkins

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Re-purpose old smartphones as audio/video security cameras which could be used instead of baby monitors, or by cyclists to see and record video behind them. Tokbox is used as the hub to stream all videos through and monitor multiple feeds. This gives the ability to focus on different rooms and interact where necessary.

Deal With It

Created by @KennyEvil

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A chat application for users to let their friends know when they can “deal with it”. It was based on an idea for a similar app, adding “deal with it” glasses and using Tokbox for the video. The next stage is to add a two way chat and pusher notifications so that the other person will be able to see your glasses. Face detection is made possible by the HTML5 face detection library.

Missile.lab.io

Created by @labfoo

launcher

Adam took a USB Missile launcher and wired a camera to it. He then allowed the launcher to be controlled over the internet. He wasn’t able to get the app working during the night but completed it the next day. The code is available here.

And the winner is…

TokBox’s Roland Drewell scored each app based on 4 categories: originality of idea, workingness, design and wow-factor.

In first place – Talktok!

Talktok scored high across the board scoring 8/10 for idea and workingness and 7/10 for design and wow-factor.

Talktok’s creator, Sam Machin, chose to take home the GoPro, leaving the Ouya up for grabs by the runner up…

In second place – Deal With It!

Just one point behind Talktok was Deal With It, scoring an 8 for workingness and 7s for idea, design and wow-factor.

We had an awesome night, it was fantastic to see a bunch of great local developers working together on cool new ideas. A massive shoutout to TokBox for making it all possible. If you’re looking for a WebRTC video solution for your app or website visit https://tokbox.com/.

Keep an eye on our Meetup page for details of the next Simpleweb Challenge.

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