Hackathons can be great places to foster new ideas and develop concepts with like-minded people, popular in both the videogame and virtual reality (VR) communities. On Devpost, an online system for the creation of hackathons, Facebook has launched a new series of three hackathons, one of which is focused on augmented reality (AR).

A new initiative by the social media giant for 2020, the Facebook Online Hackathon Series is looking for aspiring and experienced developers alike to take part, offering cash prizes and a chance to go to Facebook’s Developer Conference (F8) in May.

For the Facebook Hackathon: AR is looking for: “Create a World AR Effect using Spark AR that utilizes the back camera (the rear facing one; not the selfie camera) to add augmented reality to the world around the user – such as 3D content. The more delightful and innovative, the better.”

You have until 5pm EST (10pm GMT) on 16th March 2020 to submit a 2-minute video hosted on a platform like YouTube or Facebook showcasing a demo of the application. There is $7,000 USD is cash to be won, with third place winning $1,500, second place gets $2,500, while first place gets $3,000 plus F8 tickets which include flights and hotel.

Judging will take place from 17th – 23th March, with the winners announced on or around 23rd. The judges have yet to be announced but they’ll be taken from specific product teams at Facebook. Existing projects can be used or improved upon, however, they do need to adhere to the World Effect challenge.

For those that haven’t used Spark AR before all the download links and video tutorials can be found via the resource tab on the hackathon page. Spark AR Studio was created by Facebook to allow anyone to create augmented reality filters and effects for Instagram Stories.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Facebook’s AR hackathon, reporting back with the latest announcements and updates.