I embedded myself in a vibe coding team at Gemini's AI hackathon in Singapore. Building an app in 7 hours takes real work.

At the break of dawn, a group of four coding enthusiasts from Malaysia crossed the border into Singapore with an ambitious plan: to create an app leveraging AI capabilities during Google's Gemini 3 Hackathon. With just seven hours on the clock, they aimed to prototype a project that would analyze properties through the lens of feng shui, a traditional Chinese practice tied to luck, well-being, and spatial harmony. The diverse team, consisting of an accountant, an AI lecturer, an IT professional, and a startup CTO, initially envisioned a feng shui app that would assess real estate. However, as the clock ticked away, they pivoted to a more feasible idea: an application that could evaluate a user's outfit and workspace in real-time using a smartphone camera. The competition required teams of four to submit a working demo, a public code repository, and a brief video by the end of the day. Organized by Google DeepMind and 65labs, with a prize pool of 100,000 credits, the stakes were high. As the hours passed, the team worked collaboratively, with Chan Wei Khjan leading the charge in crafting prompts for the AI, while Chan Ler-Kuan ensured the outputs adhered to feng shui principles. The first hour was spent generating a codebase via Claude, an AI tool, which was quickly filled with bugs upon testing. The team’s quick thinking allowed them to rectify these errors by directly engaging with the AI to troubleshoot the issues. They even managed to adjust the application’s logic when the initial results didn’t align with traditional feng shui concepts, showcasing their adaptability. Around lunchtime, despite the chaos, the team finally had a rough version of their app, humorously named "Feng Shui Banana." As they tested its functionality, the app began to show promise by accurately identifying attire and suggesting enhancements based on feng shui principles. With only hours left, the team's focus shifted to refining workspace evaluations and creating an engaging demo video. They harnessed Gemini’s capabilities to storyboard their presentation, seamlessly stitching together clips as the deadline loomed. In a final push, they added audio output to enhance user experience, ultimately settling on a voice reminiscent of a traditional feng shui master. As the deadline approached, tension rose, but the team managed to submit their project just in time, albeit without any accolades. Reflecting on their experience, the team concluded that the hackathon was not just about winning but about the journey of innovation sparked by curiosity and spontaneity. "Sometimes, the best experiences come from saying 'yes' without overthinking," stated Ler-Kuan, emphasizing the value of the collaborative spirit and the learning process that unfolded throughout the day.