Hyper Dimensional Computing Research Hackathon

​This open source event, hosted by Simuli, Ekkolápto and the Computational Philosophy Club at MIT, focuses on the paradigms of Hyperdimensional Computing (HDC), aka  Vector-Symbolic Architectures (VSA), that use hypervectors as a universal data representation. Inspired by neural representations in the brain, HDC/VSA offers a promising path toward robust, efficient, and explainable forms of computation. This hackathon will bring together students and practitioners to investigate core open research directions in the realm of HDC, in particular from the perspectives of information theory and the holographic principle.

Event Program

Day One: Talks, Panels, and Demonstrations (9am-9pm)
Comprehensive treatment of the state of the art models in the field. Overview of current research directions and open challenges. The first day is dedicated to bringing all participants up to speed about the current research challenges and novel interpretations of the HDC/VSA framework.

Day Two: Hackathon & Bug Bounty Contest (9am-5pm)
The second day is structured as a guided research sprint designed to empirically investigate two research questions at the heart of contemporary HyperDimensional Computing (HDC). Participants will choose one of two tracks, each functioning as a team collaboration "bug bounty".

Target Audience

Undergraduate and graduate students with interests in artificial intelligence, non-classical computational mathematics, Information Theory, and computational cognitive science, cybersecurity, compression, and data science. Researchers and practitioners in the field of HDC/VSA from a wide range of expertise levels. Postdoc candidates looking for industry ready research applications in HDC and information sciences.