Hackathon

Junction 2024: from floor plans to AR, third place overall

Our Junction 2024 entry for KONE's challenge turned floor plans into editable 3D models with an AR view, and it took third place overall.

Juho Torkkeli

· 3 min read

GitHub
Event
Junction 2024
Dates
Nov 8–10, 2024
Location
Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki
Challenge
KONE: BIM for any building, by anyone
Result
3rd place overall
Junction 2024 “Back Offline” banner: three people, one eating chips and one napping in a sleep mask, above the dates Nov 8–10 at Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki, and the slogan “Let’s go back to the basics. Let’s be together.”

Third year in a row

For the third year in a row, our team took part in Junction, this time with a partly new lineup. Junction 2024 ran from November 8 to 10 at Kaapelitehdas in Helsinki.

Choosing a challenge

The challenges were released late this year, so we spent the whole first evening planning. We chose KONE’s challenge, “BIM for any building, by anyone.” BIM stands for building information modeling, and our goal was a solution that turns floor plans into 3D models that are easy to modify. It’s a problem the whole industry deals with.

What we built

The solution had three parts:

  1. Backend: We built a backend around an existing AI model that generates 3D models from 2D floor plans, so a model was ready quickly.

  2. Web interface: The generated 3D models opened in the browser, where users could add elevators and other equipment.

  3. Augmented reality: A mobile app showed the 3D models in augmented reality. You could view a model on a tabletop or step inside the virtual building to get a feel for the space.

Work and rest

After the first evening of planning, we made sure to get a good night’s sleep, which kept us focused for the rest of the hackathon. We still worked late as the weekend went on, but the project stayed on track, so we didn’t have to skip sleep for it.

We finished the project and the pitch deck ahead of schedule, so we took the chance to relax in the venue’s sauna. The panoramic view made it a good reset before the final judging.

An unexpected message

Junction changed its award structure this year: the top 10 teams pitched on stage, and a €20,000 prize pool was split among the top five.

After our peer review session, we went to eat. Just as we were finishing, another participant told us the organizers wanted to speak with our team. We were surprised at first, then realized we might be one of the top 10 teams invited to pitch on stage.

Finals on stage

The auditorium was packed. Technical delays meant over an hour of waiting, but our speaker was early in the lineup and gave a strong pitch.

Third place overall

We finished third overall at Junction 2024, which came with a share of the prize pool. We were also one of the top teams in KONE’s challenge.

Thanks to the team

Thank you to our team for the work and ideas all weekend. This was another great Junction, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s.

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