INCLUSIVE XR | EMPOWERXR HACKATHON | GELSENKIRCHEN | MAY 2026

EmpowerXR was an international hackathon on inclusive XR, asking how virtual and augmented reality can be made accessible for everyone. Over a 45-hour sprint at the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche in Gelsenkirchen, international teams of developers, designers, and social-work professionals built accessible XR prototypes together with people with disabilities, who worked directly inside the teams.

We chose the brief’s first challenge: a gentle first step into XR. Standard VR headsets often overwhelm newcomers with menus, advertising, and sensory overload, so we asked how those first minutes could offer calm and orientation instead of confusion.

Our answer, Nasse Füße, is a guided augmented reality experience built in Lens Studio for Snap Spectacles, see-through glasses that keep the hands free and the real room always in view. There are no menus: a friendly guide welcomes the visitor inside the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche, then steps aside as glowing arrows lead from one checkpoint to the next. Motion graphics were made in After Effects.

Three short stations open up the building and the medium at once: the monumental Jesus figure above the entrance, seen without climbing; the altar, where sculptures of saints once visible only from the front can now be seen from every side, which matters for visitors with limited mobility; and the ceiling, where the Latin hymn Vexilla Regis is set to music. The visit ends back at the table, where guests tell us what worked and, just as important, what caused problems.

Nasse Füße was a three-person team: Hengo, Hakan, and me. I worked on development and concept.

Our team, Nasse Füße, won the Publikums-Preis at EmpowerXR.

Organised by Paritätische Gelsenkirchen in cooperation with mxr storytelling, funded by Aktion Mensch and supported by Volksbank Ruhr Mitte. The public pitch and award ceremony took place on 30 May 2026 at the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche, Gelsenkirchen.

Our thanks go to the EmpowerXR team, Valerie, Sophia, Roman, and Matthias, to the partners named above, to the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche, to the participants with disabilities who shaped the concept, and to Sophia for the photographs on this page.

https://gelsenmylove.de/empowerxr-wenn-digitale-zukunft-wirklich-alle-mitdenkt/

https://rausgegangen.de/en/events/empowerxr-hackathon-pitch-preisverleihung-0/

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