CHIO Aachen’s first “hackathon” was a competitive brain battle to improve the use of technology at equestrian events
It was just another day at the Aachen (Germany) showgrounds: There’s the air of a great competition. The judges are scrutinizing scoresheets. And to the victors, the spoils, at the site of the world’s greatest horse show.
In a place where horses jump and vaulters leap during the annual horse show, the contestants stayed close to the ground, even crouching or sitting on the floor. Horses were just a memory as creativity met technology for three days and two nights in October. Equestrian techies responded to the iconic German super-show‘s call for new ideas to bring technology to the world of horse competitions.
The equestrian hackathon was on, and the ideas flowed.
But it wasn’t enough to just come up with a great idea; each team had to “pitch” its idea to the judges, and sell them on what the idea could add to the show. Imagine a dressage team lobbying the judges to up their scores, and present them with a trophy. That’s how a hackathon works: Technology meets creativity, but in the final offensive, a good idea must sell itself.
Some would say that the CHIO Aachen experience is already heads and hooves above other shows, and needs no improvement, yet the organizers still had questions. Is it enough to be the best? What does it take to stay the best? Can the show be improved even further? How can the interactive participation of the public be expanded, and how can the sport be made more transparent, more entertaining, or more comprehensible, using cutting-edge technology? At the first Hackathon, designers and programmers, athletes, marketing experts and creative minds from all corners of technology and the horse world searched for — and found — answers to these questions.
Challenges leveled at the teams included: What innovations do the CHIO Aachen fans want? What are possible ideas for the customers of the sponsors of tomorrow? How can fan engagement and experience as well as loyalty to the CHIO Aachen be increased? How can the concept of CHIO Aachen be implemented 365 days a year? Can equestrian sport be further digitized? Which innovative techniques and ideas can help?
The hackathon was staged like a reality tv show: A good idea was certainly valuable, but rarely enough to win a prize. Each team also needed a charismatic and articulate presenter, a persuader who not only understood the team’s great idea, but how it worked, and what it would mean to the success of the event. Persuaders had just five minutes to convince the jury that their ideas were the best.
This year’s top idea and top pitch came from Team “Pr3t A T0ut”. They impressed the jury with their idea to make details of dressage competition visible beyond the arena. With the aid of high-resolution cameras and algorithms, details like hoof prints during the piaffe can be visualized, thus making the sport more comprehensible and entertaining for spectators. What’s more, the technology enables the riders a precise analysis of their movements.
First place came with a 5000-Euro (US$5800) bonus. “A super idea, which can also be put into practice fast, because it can be integrated into our existing developments,” jurist Michael Mronz, general manager of the show, stated about the dressage idea. Moreover, it is also an idea that can be implemented beyond the field of equestrian sport: “In the scope of the CHIO Aachen CAMPUS, we have also created an offer for hobby riders. In the future, the participants can also take part in a training day here at our grounds and return home with the added value of a digital evaluation,” added Mronz.
In addition to the high degree of innovation, jurist Oliver Grün above all praised the fact “as a layman, I can now also understand what is happening there (in the arena)”.
The team members Daniel Barofke and Lennart Carstens-Behrens travelled to Aachen from Leipzig, Germany. “I have been riding for an eternity,” computer scientist Daniel noted. He has close ties to the sport, but his teammate Lennart didn’t have a clue. At the Hackathon they joined forces with Maike Holtkemper, Henric Breuer, Krzysztof Zibur, and Sinem Atilgan to develop ideas to make dressage more transparent and entertaining. “Technology can help explain why one piaffe was better than the other,” Daniel is convinced. Team member Maike Holtkemper said she “will soon be able to take her husband with her to the CHIO — since now he will also be able to understand dressage.”
Holtkemper and Breuer received extra praise from the jury for their acting talents during their team’s pitch, which they presented in the form of a dialogue.
Second place (2,500 Euros) went to Team “Epona” (Franziska Schilling, Sarah Sommerauer, Roman von der Lohe, Sebastian Schilling), who want to enable hobby and professional riders to experience the “perfect jump” using technology and the 5G network.
Team “FaCHIOn” (Robert Beerwerth, Jalil Belhouji, Valentina Gross, Maik Klinkhammer, Felix Boesch) claimed third place (1,500 Euros) with their idea to make the outfits of the athletes scannable so they can also be directly linked to showground shops where those clothes are sold.
In all, ten teams presented their ideas and solutions for the horse show. A team from China competed, as well.
“We enjoyed exciting days with outstanding, innovative solutions,” commented show manager Michael Mronz, who is already looking forward to the second hackathon next year.
About the Hackathon
The hackathon was organized by the CHIO Aachen CAMPUS and the digitalHub Aachen, supported by the official CHIO Aachen telecommunications service provider NetAachen. The jury consisted of Hans-Heinrich Siemers (Senior Director Global Co-Innovation Labs Network SAP), Dr. Diego Assencio (Director of Solutions Engineering, South EMEA at GitHub), Dr. Oliver Grün (Chairman of digitalHUB Aachen e.V.) and Michael Mronz (General Manager of Aachener Reitturnier GmbH) and Conny Mütze (Authorised Representative of Aachener Reitturnier GmbH).
