Inspiration
I'm from Khenchela, Algeria - 1200m altitude, 300 days of sun per year, but people still pay high electricity bills. My family house has traditional Zellige tiles and a 40m2 roof perfect for solar.
I also built KHENCHELA SUN, a real solar calculator for Algerian homes. I thought: why not bring this to VR? And Mita is super popular in MENA - young people love her. So I combined: Mita + Khenchela + Solar + Meta VR Glasses.
What it does
Mita Khenchela Solar is a seated, hands-only VR experience built for Meta VR Glasses and Quest 3.
Story: Mita lives in a traditional Khenchela house (white Zellige walls, Atlas mountain view) and her electricity bill is too high. She needs YOUR help to install 8kW solar.
Gameplay (100% hands-only):
- Look at solar panel -> pinch to grab (hand tracking)
- Place on roof - system shows real math: 40m2 = 8kW = 12,000 kWh/year
- Mita calculates savings: 96,360 DZD per year in Khenchela sun
- When finished, house lights up, Mita celebrates
No controllers. No standing. Just your hands, seated.
How we built it
- Meta Horizon Desktop Editor (PC only, no Quest headset needed)
- Meta XR SDK v62 + Hand Tracking API
- Interaction SDK for grabbable panels
- Blender for low-poly Zellige tiles and Khenchela house
- All objects flagged "Hands Only" + "Stationary Seated"
- Tested in XR Simulator
I don't own a Quest - I built everything on PC, which is allowed for this competition because Meta VR Glasses are the target.
Challenges we ran into
- No headset: had to trust XR Simulator for hand tracking
- Making Zellige tiles look real with low poly
- Real solar math: had to research Khenchela irradiance (5.8 kWh/m2/day)
- Hands-only grab is harder than controllers - tuned pinch threshold 20 times
Accomplishments that we're proud of
- First ever Algerian Khenchela house in VR
- Real educational value: player learns actual solar sizing
- 100% meets competition rules: hands-only end-to-end, seated stationary, single app
- From idea to Devpost in 1 day
- Bridges my real project KHENCHELA SUN (web) to VR
What we learned
Hands-only is MORE immersive than controllers for learning. When you grab a solar panel with your real hand, your brain believes you installed it. Also, cultural details matter - testers smiled when they saw Zellige.
What's next for Mita Khenchela Solar
- 10 different Khenchela houses
- Multiplayer: friends help Mita install together
- Connect to real API: after VR, get real quote on khenchela-sun.vercel.app
- Arabic / French / English voice for Mita
- Publish to Horizon Store
Built for competition requirements
✅ Hands-only end-to-end ✅ Seated, stationary ✅ Supports Meta VR Glasses + Quest ✅ Single app, no switching ✅ Productivity + Gaming + Entertainment category
