VisionHack - First International Hackathon on Computer Vision for Unmanned Vehicles

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NUST MISIS, one of Russia's leading technological universities, and Cognitive Technologies, a company which develops artificial intelligence systems for unmanned vehicles, will jointly organize VisionHack 2017. 

According to Alevtina Chernikova, Rector of NUST MISIS: "It is not a coincidence that Russia and NUST MISIS have become a venue for holding such high-level events-Russia has one of the world`s best schools for the development of artificial intelligence. Today, our domestic developments in the field of computer vision are highly rated by leading international experts, and the NUST MISIS team for several years in a row has reached the final of the ACM/ICPC international programming championship."

A hackathon (an international forum of IT developers) like this, dedicated to computer vision technologies and unmanned vehicles, is the first of its kind in the entire world. More than 30 teams from world leading universities such as MIT (USA), the University of Cambridge (Great Britain), ASU (USA), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (P.R. China), University Paris-Saclay (France), the University of Science and Technology Beijing (P.R. China), and UPC (Spain) have announced their participation in the hackathon. The total number of hackathon participants is about 150 people, and the prize fund exceeds $30,000, which is a record for such an event.

Computer vision in application of practical tasks for the driving of unmanned vehicles, which is currently one of the most relevant and popular directions of artificial intelligence, has become the competition's main theme. The participants' aim will be to create their own intellectual subsystem for driver assistance and ADAS (advanced driver assistance system) capable of automatically detecting various events on the road (small circumstances, which sometimes seriously affect traffic safety) such as: a car stopped in the middle of the street with its hazard lights on; a dog or small child about to cross the street; the sun shining on a turn and blinding a driver, etc.

Participants will be given a large array of data - several hundred 10-second videos, which will show different road situations and problems.

"Participants will have to solve real and significant practical issues of computer vision for unmanned vehicles. We hope that the intelligent subsystems developed by participants will be included in the ADAS product lines, and will be able to significantly improve road safety, as well as to provide drivers with the necessary level of comfort. We are sure that the hackathon winners will be able to increase their value as specialist-professionals of the highest class, for whom doors to the world's leading AI development companies are open," said Olga Uskova, president of the Cognitive Technologies group.

The winner of the hackathon will be the team which provides the most accurate and comprehensive solution to the set of proposed road situations. Additionally, the organizers will prepare secondary prizes for qualitative decisions on specific developments.

VisionHack will be held in 2 rounds: the preliminary selection stage, from July 13th to 31st, where participants will be asked to solve test tasks. The best teams will be invited to participate in the on-site competition. Both individuals and teams (3-5 people) can register. The panel of judges will include world-famous specialists in the field of IT and artificial intelligence, business representatives, venture funds, and development institutions.

The event will be held at the NUST MISIS Commune House, an architectural monument designed in the constructivism era.

An extensive educational program and meetings with prominent representatives of the IT field (especially in the field of unmanned vehicles) will be organized for the hackathon. Top managers of famous Russian and international companies will act as mentors and lecturers at the event.

The top managers of large Russian enterprises such as Alfa Group, Severstal, VEB, Rosatom, Gazprombank, and representatives of the Russian Government will be invited to the event as honorary guests. 

World-renowned companies and developers of artificial intelligence, unmanned technologies, and hardware are among the event`s business partners.

Detailed information on VisionHack can be viewed here http://visionhack.misis.ru/.

Please contact the organizers if you have any additional questions at visionhack@misis.ru

About NUST MISIS 

The National University of Science and Technology MISIS is one of Russia's most dynamically developing centers for research and education. Being among the leaders of technology education in Russia, NUST MISIS is also a large research center. In 2015 NUST MISIS entered The Times Higher Education World University Rankings and strengthened its position in the QS World University Rankings. In 2016, NUST MISIS was the only Russian university to enter the Times Higher Education: World's Best Small Universities Ranking, and also continued to climb in the QS regional rankings. 

The strategic goal of NUST MISIS is to become a global leader in the fields of materials science, metallurgy, and mining, as well as to strengthen its position in the fields of biomaterials and nano- and IT technologies by 2020. The University comprises 9 institutes and 4 branches - three in Russia and one abroad. More than 15,000 students are being trained at NUST MISIS. 27 laboratories and 3 world-class engineering centers, where leading international scientists work, operate at NUST MISIS. The University successfully implements joint projects with both well-known Russian and international high-tech companies.