A love letter to ICXR

Reality Hack is always such a special event for me. Just when I thought no experience could top my experience at Reality Hack last year, this year’s RH manages to take the win. It marked the beginning of my journey—my first real step into the world of XR and the introduction to some of my favorite people in this world. Last year, all I knew was SpatialSC and a single StanfordXR tree. We made many memories of sneaking around into random MIT buildings and going through an emotional rollercoaster of a hack.

Over the course of a year, I have gotten to know so many more ICXR members and can proudly say that I have become friends with some of the most amazing people. This year, we made memories of sneaking around the MIT tunnels and hacking in the craziest places like the gym of a random hotel. The memories that I will cherish forever are the ones that sound absolutely insane on paper—turning an old chair into a makeshift roller coaster in the depths of MIT tunnels, pedaling away on an exercise bike at 3 AM while debugging code, and somehow managing to take care of a drunk friend through it all. These are the beautiful moments of chaos that make Reality Hack special.

RH isn’t just about pushing the boundaries of technology or creating innovative solutions, but rather the magic that happens when passionate people come together. Many hackathons I’ve experienced tend to feel like a race to the finish line, but Reality Hack pulses with a different energy. It’s in the shared pain of sleep deprivation during coffee runs, the collective excitement when someone’s project unexpectedly works, and the genuine amazement when we see each other’s creations.

This year, my team tackled the Hardware Hack when none of us knew anything about hardware, and we somehow managed to place in the top 10 in the entire hackathon. This wasn’t done through the efforts of just my team—other teams were constantly helping each other out, sharing tools and resources, and offering advice. Truly, Hardware Hack is the real Community Hack.

To my ICXR family

Thank you for welcoming me into this incredible community. From those first tentative steps into the XR world till now, you’ve shown me what it means to be a part of a community that is driven by a shared passion and an unapologetic desire to build cool shit. Here’s to many more adventures, late-night hacking sessions, and memories that blur the lines between reality and dreams. Until we meet again.