On April 16–17, 2026, the Geckode Hackathon took place at the University of Salerno, organized in collaboration between UNISA, NEOLAiA, and Youbiquo. The event brought together students, developers, and innovators for two intensive days of collaboration and experimentation in the field of Extended Reality (XR).
The event opened with institutional greetings. The Rector of the University of Salerno sent a welcome message, although he was unable to attend in person. This was followed by speeches from Prof. Vittorio Scarano from the Department of Computer Science at UNISA, Dr. Marco Sacco from CNR STIIMA, Eng. Pietro Carratù, CEO of Youbiquo, and Dr. Sebastiano Deva, CEO of Innereo, who highlighted the importance of technological innovation and collaboration between universities, research institutions, and industry.
Following the official opening of the hackathon, participants had an initial networking moment during the breakfast, providing an opportunity to meet and engage with other teams. At 10:00 AM, the challenge was officially launched, marking the start of project development. The day continued with intensive work sessions until 6:00 PM, including development activities and mentoring sessions.
The second day was entirely dedicated to completing the projects. Teams continued working on their solutions, focusing on refinement, optimization, and preparation for the final presentations. At the end of the event, the projects were submitted and evaluated by the jury, followed by final presentations and the award ceremony.
A key element of this edition was the strong focus on the NEOLAiA Alliance. A dedicated challenge was focused on the development of the NEOLAiA metaverse, an evolving digital ecosystem designed to support innovative academic activities such as interactive seminars, collaborative workshops, and virtual meetings between students and faculty.
In this context, participants contributed to the expansion of existing virtual environments — including those of the University of Salerno and the University of Nicosia — within the NEOLAiA metaverse. The main activity involved designing new university scenarios and developing new collaborative features aimed at enriching the academic community experience.
As part of the NEOLAiA challenge, two projects were awarded for their usefulness and impact on students:
Tutoring and Mindfulness: A project designed to support students throughout their academic journey, offering virtual tools to manage study workloads, prevent stress-related issues, and enhance overall support.
Erasmus Student Assistance: A solution aimed at helping international students navigate the University of Salerno campus, making it easier to discover and access services and activities provided by university offices.
Both projects contributed to the creation of new environments and new forms of collaboration within the metaverse. Regarding the prizes, the second-place team received gaming keyboards, while the overall winning team was awarded AirPods.
The hackathon represented not only a technical challenge but also a concrete opportunity to contribute to a shared European vision of digital education. The best projects were evaluated by an expert jury and may gain access to further development and valorization pathways, including publication in the European XR applications store for enterprises.
Overall, the Geckode Hackathon once again confirmed its strong value for innovation, skills development, and international collaboration, strengthening the role of NEOLAiA in promoting digital transformation and co-creation among universities.
All photos of the event are available in our gallery.
