Inside The World's Biggest Hackathon – Full Documentary on UC Berkeley's Cal Hacks
This documentary will introduce you to the high-energy environment of Cal Hacks 2025, the world's largest collegiate hackathon, where over 2,500 students gather at the former Exploratorium in San Francisco to build innovative projects in just 36 hours. Quincy Larson interviews various teams to showcase diverse creations ranging from AI-powered dance coaches and K-pop training apps to automated "burger bots" and deodorant-spraying robots. Throughout the event, participants navigate technical challenges like limited Wi-Fi while demonstrating the intense work ethic, ingenuity, and community spirit that define modern developer culture. Cal Hacks 12.0 took place on October 24–26, 2025, at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, CA. Learn more about Cal Hacks: https://www.calhacks.io/ Director: Beau Carnes Sound and Camera: Sunday Ajak Camera: Nathaniel Tham Music: Quincy Larson Chapters - 00:00 Introduction to Cal Hacks at the Exploratorium - 00:42 The Scope: 2,500 Participants & 36 Hours - 01:30 Exploring the Venue: Mezzanine to the Main Floor - 01:57 Interview: Team San Jose State University (Rapid Learning & Pressure) - 04:36 Interview: Anti-Deepfake Mobile App - Baran (Sacramento) - 05:16 Interview: AI Dungeon Master for D&D - Julian & Colin (Colgate University) - 07:27 Interview: Hackathon Project Management App - Kai, Ricardo, Kas - 08:24 Interview: Kahoot Clone - Ji, Gilbert, Marian, Jason - 09:31 Sepehr the Shark and Scenes - 10:58 Interview: AI Dance Coach - Kai (UVA) & Ethan (Cal State Fullerton) - 12:56 The Air Mattress Monoliths: Preparing to Sleep Under Tables - 13:28 Interview: ASL Translator & Education Tools - Tri & Team - 14:52 Interview: Spaced Repetition Information Retention - Nina, Krishna, Viha - 16:12 Interview: Mentoring the Next Generation of Builders - Chinat Yu (Mentor Mates) - 18:33 Interview: Advice for Competitive vs. Casual Hackers - Andrew (Volunteer) - 22:33 Interview: Reducing Latency in LLM Development - Alex, Nathan, Abek, Prada - 24:18 End of Day One: The 36-Hour Countdown - 24:47 Day Two: Chasing Wi-Fi Waves & Hotspot Contraband - 26:23 Interview: Trust Score Project (Credit Solutions for Immigrants) - - 27:39 The "Sleep Scale": From 48 Hours Awake to Naps on Chairs - 29:38 Interview: Finding Authentic Friction Points - Sophia (Big Tech PM) - 30:53 Sophia’s Story: Turning Guitar Tabs into Sheet Music - 33:01 Interview: VR Chat with AI Agents - 33:25 Interview: Janitor Turned Dev - Shane - 34:12 Interview: Creating a Safe Space for Innovation - Vincent (Sponsor) - 35:30 Demo: Spaced Repetition UI/UX Reveal - Nina, Krishna, Viha - 37:36 Demo: Elastic Brew (Telemetry-Powered Espresso Machine) - - 39:31 Interview: Health Data App - Alex - 40:32 Interview: Tactile Senses for the Visually Impaired - Cedric, Shao, David, Jin - 41:39 Interview: High-Pressure Environments - Isasaki - 43:06 Final 11 Hours: Ingenuity on Display - 44:19 Interview: Managing 2,700 Developers - Dylan (Organizer) - 46:26 Interview: The 9-Month Planning Sprint - Sam (Organizer) - 51:14 Day Three: Code Lock & Proof of Concept - 51:26 Demo: Automated Food Assembly - Princess, Zaira, Bhavya, Gabriele - 53:00 Demo: Meight - Artem & Satya - 54:30 Demo: Deodorant Robot - E, Mohammad, Nick, Eric - 55:48 Demo: Voice Agent for ADHD Task Management - Maya, Candy, Hamad, Seif - 57:41 Demo: Figure Flow - Payne, Michael, Joey - 1:00:00 Demo: Recall Me - Abbey, Neha, Rudrika, Manchika - 1:02:25 Demo: AI Government Tools - Angad, Sanjay, Rohan, Preet, Likhit - 1:04:19 Demo: Desktop Automation - Hem, Pritish, Krishiv - 1:05:12 Demo: Stock Explained - Saline, Anish, Kim - 1:06:49 Demo: Persisting Context Across LLMs - Brenden, Katie, Jeana - 1:09:55 Demo: VR Driver’s Ed with AI Feedback - Lukas, Shashwat, Brian - 1:11:48 Demo: Group "Vibe" Restaurant Selection - Colin, Rick, Derek, Marvin - 1:14:41 Demo: Platypus Academy - Kate & Andrew - 1:16:43 Demo: K-pop Demon Hunters Academy - Skyler, Caleb, Kenneth, Sreerag - 1:19:04 Closing Thoughts: Why You Should Attend a Hackathon
