A team of developers from Venice has scooped the $100,000 grand prize for PayPal's 2015 Battlehack series, marking the culmination of a globe-trotting hackathon that took in 14 cities worldwide.
The 24-hour BattleHack World Finals took place at PayPal Headquarters in Silicon Valley and hosted 14 teams of developers from across the globe, all winners of their regional competitions.
For the final, competitors were tasked with building an application that incorporates the PayPal, Braintree or Venmo APIs, encouraging hacks that include an element of social good.
Team Venice’s winning hack, called ifCar, tapped both hardware and software to make cars smarter using a combination of sensors, environmental and contextual data, and user preferences. The onboard technology could be used to provide data on local parking rules and regulations, monitor children or pets in the car while running errands, and improve vehicle security.
John Lunn, senior director of developer and startup relations at Braintree comments: "Their technology has the potential to democratise access to the technical features of high-end cars, making it possible to turn any car into a smart car."