Held for the first time in 2016, the immensely popular Hackathon—held by the engineers in LINE Fukuoka’s Development Department— recently came to a close. Just like its inaugural event, many of the engineers enthusiastically took part in this occasion. They were given a time frame of two days each to develop and present their ideas, and the final demonstration took place in Beppu of Oita Prefecture, which is well-known for its Jigoku Meguri (Hell Tour) and onsens (hot springs). The engineers achieved the feat of transforming all 16 ideas into prototypes despite the tight two-day development schedule. Nagashima-san, an intern for the LINE Fukuoka Data Analytics Team, brings us this report on the Hackathon.

The majority of demonstrations revolved specifically around new technologies: drone programming, AR/VR, Blockchain, big data analysis, and image recognition. It was a potent reminder of the engineers’ insatiable sense of curiosity for anything cutting-edge, and their capacity to efficiently implement new technology. Also, every concept was not just technologically stirring, but simply enjoyable to watch in action, which was clear from the constant laughter from the audience.