Tech Crunch's Disrupt NY is at it again for 2015. The Hackathon recently occurred giving 106 groups of developers a chance to show what they are made of. We will cover our favorites, the runner ups, and the winner of the grand prize.  

First, what is a Hackathon?

Over 1,000 hackers have filed into the Manhattan Center and are diligently banging out code and tearing apart APIs. Over the next 24 hours these teams will work furiously, powered by Red Bull and Nerf Gun tomfoolery, to create a stunning application or hardware project.

Matt Burns (@mjburnsy)

The term "hacker" typically strikes up an uneasy image in most people's mind. A hacker can be any group creatively solving problems. In this case, we have a slew of developers bringing some innovative apps and programs to the stage. 

What We Loved

While there could only be one winner (and two runner ups), we noticed a few programs that are definitely worth mentioning. 

CloudSense

With only 24 hours, Sam Harrell attempted a project to make your entire house smart. 

Harrell, working by himself, managed to make an impressive amount of progress, getting the group of sensors communicating with the board, then the board communicating with the web server, and finally the apps communicating with the web server. He also had to write the iPhone app, and then a simple Apple Watch app. 

Ron Miller (@ron_miller)

How does it work? Basically, you would have multiple sensors that you can place around your home to make into "smart" devices. This will sync up with your mobile device or Apple watch to allow you to monitor no matter where you are at. 

Have you ever made it half way down the road and wondered if you left something on? I am a worrier so I know that feeling all too well. This will save you that trip back to the house. 

Posture.io

Our office experiments with standing stations, wearables, and other things to improve quality of life. A happy worker makes a happy company. This is why Posture.io stuck out. 

Heenan’s Posture.io hack combines a Texas Instruments Bluetooth Low Energy sensor (which costs $20 to $30) attached to the back of an office chair with velcro, and an adhesive magnetic rubber strip (costing $1-$2) that’s stuck to the back of the wearer’s belt. The TI sensor detects the distance and angle of the magnetic strip on the belt to calculate whether the wearer is slouching or sitting up nice and straight.

Natasha Lomas (@riptari)

If you have back problems or want to prevent them, this app will keep you in check. 

The Runner Ups

They did not take home the grand prize, but with these runner ups you can tell it was a close call. 

Picorico

The team used off-the-shelf sensors and built a string encoder using a retractable key badge with a capacitive encoder. It’s quite impressive to see your suspension compression rates in real time while you play with the bike.

Romain Dillet (@romaindillet)

As a mountain biker (and someone that lives with a downhill biker), this app would be great to see in action. Downhill mountain bikes are sort of like motocross bikes without the motor. They are complex and offer much adjustability.

This app allowed the rider to measure suspension and other details while tuning the bike. 

MoolahMe

This peer-to-peer payment system allowed you to make cash requests in the surrounding areas for others to fulfill. This would keep your bank account on a crowd and have everyone around you act as an ATM. MoolahMe will settle your balance after you receive your cash. Pretty neat. 

The Winner

Finally, one group won the cash and grand prize. Their program was called 'Witness'. 

In addition to alerting your friends and family, Witness will record your location, camera and microphone activity, and stream it over cellular and Wi-Fi to your emergency contacts in real time. In the meantime, your screen fades to black so that nobody can notice that you are streaming what’s happening.

Romain Dillet (@romaindillet)

This acts as a panic button for your smart phone. You will click the red button on your iPhone, and it will immediately contact all of your emergency contacts.

It sends a text message and a recorded phone call which will allow a to live stream into the potentially dangerous situation. 

Disrupt NY

The hackaton is over, but there are more events from Tech Crunch's Distrupt NY. Let us know what your favorite ones are! 

If you get inspired by the apps and programs, you can always call in the professionals for your own business.