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Unity Obstacle Tower Challenge

Challenge Rules

OBSTACLE TOWER CHALLENGE OFFICIAL RULES

PLEASE READ THESE OFFICIAL RULES CAREFULLY. ENTRY INTO THIS CHALLENGE CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ANY PART OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES, PLEASE DO NOT ENTER THIS CHALLENGE.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

1. Challenge Description

The Obstacle Tower Challenge (the "Challenge") is a skills based contest and is designed to push the boundaries of Artificial Intelligence research in a variety of areas, including computer vision, locomotion skills, and high-level planning. The Obstacle Tower Challenge combines platforming-style gameplay with puzzles and planning problems, all in a tower with an endless number of floors for the agent you create to learn to solve. Critically, the floors become progressively more difficult as the agent progresses.

Within each floor, the goal of the agent is to arrive at the set of stairs leading to the next level of the tower. These floors are composed of multiple rooms, each which can contain their own unique challenges. Furthermore, each floor contains a number of procedurally generated elements, such as visual appearance, puzzle configuration, and floor layout. This ensures that in order for an agent to be successful at navigating the Obstacle Tower, the agent must be able to generalize to new and unseen combinations of conditions. Your mission in this Challenge is to develop such an agent.

This Challenge will be run in accordance to these Official Rules ("Rules").

 

2. Sponsor

The Challenge is organized and sponsored by Unity Technologies ApS, a Danish corporation with offices at Løvstræde 5, DK-1150 Copenhagen K, Denmark ("Sponsor" or "Unity").

 

3. Unity Admins

"Unity Admins" are any companies or organizations authorized by Unity to aid it with the administration or execution of this Challenge including but not limited to Unity Affiliates, Google GCP, and AIcrowd SA. "Unity Affiliate" means an entity that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by or is under common control with Unity Technologies ApS.

 

4. Challenge Start and End Dates

(Please note, Dates have been extended for each Round due to technical difficulties at the start of the Challenge, Old dates are stricken out and new dates are in bold. Thank you for your understanding.)

The Challenge will commence at 12:01 a.m. PST on Monday, February 11th, 2019 and end at ~~11:59 p.m. PST Friday, May 24th, 2019~~ Thursday, August 1, 2019..

The Challenge will consist of two rounds of submission and review:

Round 1 begins at 12:01 a.m. PST on Monday, February 11th, 2019 (the "Round 1 Start Date") and ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on ~~Friday, March 31st, 2019~~ Wednesday, April, 30th, 2019 (the "Round 1 Deadline").

Round 2 begins at 12:01 a.m. PST on ~~Monday, April 15, 2019~~ Wednesday, May 15th, 2019 (the "Round 2 Start Date") and ends at 11:59 p.m. PST ~~Friday, May 24th, 2019~~ Monday, July 15th, 2019 (the "Round 2 Deadline").

The Round 1 Start Date and Round 2 Start Date are each a "Start Date" and together the "Start Dates". The Round 1 Deadline and the Round 2 Deadline are each a "Deadline" and together the "Deadlines.

 

5. Am I Eligible to Enter the Challenge?

You are eligible to enter this Challenge if you (and each member of your Team) meet all of the following requirements as of the time and date of entry:

  • You are an individual;
  • You are 18 years of age or older but in no event less than the age of majority in your place of residence;
  • You have Internet Access, an Email Account, and access to a personal computer;
  • You are NOT a resident of the Crimea region of the Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria, due to U.S. Export Regulations (and any other regions or countries prohibited under the U.S. Export Regulations );
  • You are NOT a resident of Quebec, Canada; Brazil; or Italy;
  • You have NOT won a prize from Unity or Unity Affiliates within the last 12 months;
  • You are NOT an employee of Unity or Unity Admins; and
  • You are NOT a family member or household member of any employee of Unity or Unity Admins.

Please Note: it is entirely your responsibility to review and understand your employer's policies about your eligibility to participate in this Challenge. If you participate in violation of your employer's policies, you and your Entry may be disqualified from the Challenge. Unity disclaims any and all liability or responsibility with respect to disputes arising between an employer and such employer's employee in relation to this matter.

 

6. How do I Enter the Challenge?

You may enter the Challenge as an individual or as a member of a Team. Individuals eligible to participate in the Challenge may form a "Team" which must include at least one (1), but not more than a maximum of 4 individuals. Each Team may submit their Entry as many times as they wish during the open submission period of each Round but such Team is will be evaluated based upon the last Entry they submit before each Round. An individual may only be a member of one Team. Teams consisting of more than one individual, the Team will appoint one member to be the lead for their Team ("Team Lead"). Team Lead will be responsible for submitting the Team's Entry into the Challenge and will be the point of contact of all official communications between the Team and Unity or Unity Admins and will receive all prizes on behalf of the Team. If you are a Team of one member, you are your Team Lead.

Step 1. The Team Lead will register for and create a profile including their name and email on www.aicrowd.com (if they do not have one already) (the "AIcrowd Site").

The Team Lead will then email Unity at OTC@unity3d.com and send a message that details the Team name and the names and emails of each member of their Team using the same email as the one used for registration on the AIcrowd Site.

Thereafter proceed to www.aicrowd.com/challenges/unity-obstacle-tower-challenge and follow the steps to join the challenge.

Team Leads are responsible for obtaining all consents from their Team members with respect to the sharing of their personal data and that each member of the Team agrees to these Rules and by sending the email represent that they have such consents and agreement respectively.

Step 2. Create the Round 1 Entry as outlined under "How to Create an Entry" in Section 7.

Step 3. Go to the Challenge Site (https://www.aicrowd.com/challenges/unity-obstacle-tower-challenge) and begin the submission process. Round 1 Entries must be fully submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. PST on Wednesday, April 30th, 2019.

Step 4. Pursuant to Section 11, up to 50 Teams from Round 1 will win the option to move onto Round 2 ("Finalists").

Step 5. Finalists will be announced no later than 12:01 a.m. PST on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 and Finalists' Teams wishing to continue in the Challenge will then create their Round 2 Entry as outlined in "How to Create an Entry" in Section 7.

Step 6. Go back to Challenge Site and begin the submission process. Round 2 Entries must be fully submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. PST Monday, July 15th, 2019.

Step 7. Round 2 Entries will be judged in accordance with the judging criteria and winners will be announced on approximately August 1, 2019.

Unity is not responsible for an Entry or part of an Entry that it does not receive for any reason, or for Entries that it receives but are inaccessible or illegible for any reason and such Entries may be disqualified at Unity's sole discretion.

 

7. How to Create an Entry

To create an entry, your Team must clone the Challenge Starter Kit available for download and subject to the terms of the license file therein at github.com/Unity-Technologies/obstacle-tower-challenge which includes: an example submission script, a file entitled "aicrowd.json" which lists the challenge identifier and submission authors, scripts to run and test the submission, and a link to download the 25 level limited Obstacle Tower Environment.

Using the contents of the Challenge Starter Kit, the Team will then develop code to create and train a model based on the example submission script such that the model is able to interact with the Obstacle Tower Environment (upon creation and completion of training, an "Agent"). This goal for this Agent is to advance as far as possible in the Obstacle Tower Environment.

In Round 1, once the Team has created the Agent to traverse the 25 level capped Obstacle Tower Environment, the Team Lead will then create a repository in the Gitlab instance hosted by AIcrowd at gitlab.aicrowd.com/ and upload the all components necessary to run the Round 1 Agent such that it is compatible with the included build.sh script ("Round 1 Entry") per Section 5, Step 3.

In Round 2, a link to a new Obstacle Tower Environment limited to 100 levels will be posted on the AIcrowd Site page specific to the Challenge and/or otherwise communicated to Finalists. The Team will then take the Round 1 Entry and continue to improve it such that the Agent is able to traverse the new Obstacle Tower Environment. The Team Lead will then create a repository in the Gitlab instance hosted by AIcrowd at gitlab.aicrowd.com/ and upload the all components necessary to run the Round 2 Agent such that it is compatible with the included build.sh script ("Round 2 Entry") per Section 5, Step 6.

The Round 1 Entry and the Round 2 Entry are each an "Entry".

Each Entry must include:

  • Git tag for the AIcrowd gitlab repository;
  • a LICENSE.md file;
  • Agent script; and
  • AIcrowd submission metadata file ("aicrowd.json").

 

8. Is the Entry an Eligible Entry?

To be eligible to be considered for a prize, as solely determined by Unity:

The Entry MUST:

  • be made using the Challenge Starter Kit;
  • be compatible with the build.sh script;
  • be in English;
  • be the Team's own original work;
  • not have been submitted previously in any promotion of any kind;
  • not contain material or content that:
    • is inappropriate, indecent, obscene, offensive, sexually explicit, pornographic, hateful, tortious, defamatory, or slanderous or libelous;
    • promotes bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual
    • promotes discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age;
    • promotes alcohol, illegal drugs, or tobacco;
    • violates or infringes another's rights, including but not limited to rights of privacy, publicity, or their intellectual property rights;
    • is inconsistent with the message, brand, or image of Unity, is unlawful; or
    • is in violation of or contrary to the laws or regulations of any jurisdiction in which the Entry is created; and

The Team Lead MUST:

  • ensure the Team has obtained any and all consents, approvals, or licenses required for submission of the Entry;
  • obtain any consents necessary from all members of the Team with respect to the sharing of such member's personal information as outlined herein;
  • obtain the agreement of all members of the Team to these Rules;
  • not generate the Entry by any means which violate these Rules, the Unity Terms of Service or the Unity Privacy Policy;
  • not engage in false, fraudulent, or deceptive acts at any phase during participation in the Challenge; and
  • not tamper or abuse any aspect of this Challenge.

 

9. Disqualification.

If you, any Team member, or the Entry is found to be ineligible for any reason, including but not limited to conflicts within Teams and noncompliance with Sections 5 through 8 of these Rules, Unity and Unity Affiliates reserve the right to disqualify the Entry and/or you and/or your Team members from this Challenge and any other contest or promotional activity sponsored or administered in any way by Unity or Unity Affiliates.

 

10. How may the Entry potentially be used?

The Entry may be used in a few different ways. Unity does not claim to own your Team's Entry, however, by submitting the Entry you and each member of your Team:

  • hereby grants to Unity and Unity Affiliates a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, world-wide right and license to (i) review and analyze the Entry in relation to this Challenge; and (ii) use the Entry or parts of your Entry in any media for any non-commercial or commercial purpose in connection with the marketing, sale, or promotion of Unity, Unity Affiliates and their respective products and services;
  • agrees that each member will execute any necessary paperwork for Unity and Unity Affiliates to use the rights and licenses granted hereunder;
  • acknowledges and agrees that the Team will not be compensated and may not be credited (at Unity's sole discretion) for the use of the Entry as described in these Rules;
  • acknowledges that the Unity or Unity Affiliates may have developed or commissioned materials similar to the Entry and waive any claims resulting from any similarities to the Entry;
  • understand that the Entry may be posted on a public website or social media channel and that Unity is not responsible for any unauthorized use of the Entry by visitors to such site; and
  • understand and acknowledge that, subject to provision of Prizes, Unity is not obligated to use the Entry in any way, even if the Entry is selected as a winning Entry.

Personal data you submit in relation to this Challenge will be used by Unity and Unity Admins in accordance to Section 16 of these Rules.

 

11. How will Winners be Selected and Notified?

Entries will be judged via an algorithm that will generate a score based upon which Entries will be ranked and such ranking will be displayed on the AIcrowd Site's Challenge specific leaderboard ("Leaderboard").

In each round the algorithm will rank your Entry as follows:

The Agent submitted in the Entry will be evaluated against the applicable Obstacle Tower Environment generated using 5 random seeds unavailable to participants during the Challenge ("Seeds"). To be clear, the same 5 Seeds will be used to evaluate all Entries submitted in each Round, with the understanding the 5 Seeds in Round 1 may not be the 5 Seeds applied in Round 2. The Entry will be ranked on the Leaderboard based on the highest average level reached by the Agent across all Seeds ("Average Level").

In Round 1, subject to confirmation of eligibility, the 50 highest ranking Entries on the Leaderboard will be awarded the Round 1 prize, provided such Entry has attained a minimum Average Level of 5. Where fewer than 20 Entries have achieved an Average Level of 5, Unity the minimum Average Level required will be an Average Level of 4.

In Round 2, subject to confirmation of eligibility, the first, second, and third highest scoring Entries on the Leaderboard will respectively be awarded First Place, Second Place, and Third Place prizes.

Tied Entries

Where there is a tie, we will take the average count of doors and keys encountered by the Agent across all Seeds ( "Average Score") and the tied Teams will be ranked on the Leaderboard from highest to lowest Average Score. If the Average Score for tied Teams is tied, the winning Entry will be determined by the Unity in its sole discretion.

Potential winners will be contacted within 72 hours of each Deadline via the email associated with AICrowd.com account through which the Entry was submitted. If a potential winner cannot be contacted, does not respond as directed, refuses the prize, or is found to be ineligible for any reason, such prize may be forfeited and awarded to an alternate winner. Only one alternate winner will be selected per each prize package, after which prizes will remain unawarded.

To the extent that there is any dispute as to the identity of the potential winner, the official account holder of the email address associated with the AIcrowd account through which the Entry was first submitted will be deemed the official potential winner by Unity.

 

12. Your Odds of Winning

ODDS OF WINNING A PRIZE ARE SUBJECT TO THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE ENTRIES RECEIVED AND HOW YOUR ENTRY SCORES IN ACCORDANCE TO THE JUDGING CRITERIA.

 

13. Prizes

Round 1: Up to 50 Teams will receive GCP Credits in the amount of $1100 USD per Team. (ARV $55,000 USD)

Round 2:

One First Place Prize: The winner will receive $12,000 USD; $2,500 USD reimbursement for travel to a mutually (Unity and Team) agreed upon AI or Machine Learning related conference within 1 year of the announcement of winners to go towards economy class round trip airfares from your nearest airport to the city of conference and up to 3 days of accommodations (food is not included) and an opportunity to publish their Challenge Result; and GCP Credits in the Amount of $5,000 USD.

Total First Place Prize Package Approximate Retail Value: $19,500 USD

One Second Place Prize: The winner will receive $8,000 USD; $2,500 USD reimbursement for travel to a mutually (Unity and Team) agreed upon AI or Machine Learning related conference within 1 year of the announcement of winners to go towards economy class round trip airfares from your nearest airport to the city of conference and up to 3 days of accommodations (food is not included) and an opportunity to publish their Challenge Result; and GCP Credits in the Amount of $5,000 USD.

Total Second Place Prize Package Approximate Retail Value: $15,500 USD

One Third Place Prize: The winner will receive $5,000 USD; $2,500 USD reimbursement for travel to a mutually (Unity and Team) agreed upon AI or Machine Learning related conference within 1 year of the announcement of winners to go towards economy class round trip airfares from your nearest airport to the city of conference and up to 3 days of accommodations (food is not included) and an opportunity to publish their Challenge Result; and GCP Credits in the Amount of $5,000 USD.

Total Third Place Prize Package Approximate Retail Value: $12,500 USD

Total Approximate Retail Value of all Prize packages, Rounds 1 and 2: $102,500 USD

All prizes are non-transferable, and no substitutions of the prizes for cash, alternate goods or services, or any other prize is permitted. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, Unity reserves the right to provide a substitute prize of approximately equal value for any reason. PRIZES ARE AWARDED "AS-IS" WITH NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

All federal, state, and local or any other applicable taxes, license, title, and/or registration fees or other costs, associated with the prize are the sole responsibility of the winner. Unity, Unity Admins, and each of their respective directors, officers, employees, agents and assigns, will not be responsible for any such taxes, fees, and costs.

Any prize details not specified in these Rules will be determined solely by Unity.

 

14. When will prizes be awarded?

The prizes will be awarded within a commercially reasonable time frame. All members of a Team may be required to complete and sign additional documentation, such as a non-disclosures, representations and warranties, liability and publicity releases (unless prohibited by applicable law), and tax documents, or other similar documentation in order for the potentially winning team to claim the prize. For Teams in excess of one member, the prize will be awarded to the Team Lead. Unity will in no way be involved in any dispute with respect to receipt of a prize by any other members of a Team.

Only prizes claimed in accordance to these Rules will be awarded.

 

15. Winner List

A list of all winners of this Challenge will be posted on AIcrowd Site and may be announced at Unity's discretion via Unity's or Unity Affiliates' Twitter, Facebook, Blog, or Website, or at a Unity or Unity Affiliate sponsored or hosted event.

 

16. Your Personal Data and Privacy

You acknowledge and understand Unity's Privacy Policy (located at unity3d.com/legal/privacy-policy) as well as Unity's GDPR statement (located at unity3d.com/legal/gdpr), will govern Unity's use of the personal data you submit or that is collected on Unity's behalf through your participation in this Challenge. Please refer to Section 7 of Unity's Privacy Policy to see how to access, update, or delete your data.

Unity may use cookies and/or collect IP addresses for the purpose of implementing or exercising its rights or obligations under the Rules, for information purposes, identifying your location, including without limitation for the purpose of redirecting you to the appropriate geographic website, if applicable, or for any other lawful purpose in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

Unity may use the personal data you provide via your participation in this Challenge:

  • to contact you in relation to the Challenge;
  • to confirm the details of your Entry;
  • to administer and execute this Challenge, including sharing it with Unity Admins;
  • at Unity's discretion, to credit you and/or your Team for the Entry, identify you and/or your Team as a Winner, or other similar notice; and
  • as otherwise noted in these Rules or as necessary for Unity to meet its obligations under these Rules or applicable law.

Unity only requires name and email address to be submitted in order for you to participate in this Challenge for its uses as outlined in this Section 16.

Please read the terms and conditions of the AIcrowd Site carefully to understand how your data may be used by AIcrowd SA.

 

17. Additional Terms and Conditions

If Unity determines, in its sole discretion, that any portion of this Challenge is compromised by virus, bugs, unauthorized human intervention, or any other causes beyond its control, that in the sole opinion of Unity corrupts, or impairs the administration, security, fairness or proper participation in/of the Challenge, Unity reserves the right to (a) cancel the Challenge; (b) pause the Challenge until such time the aforementioned issues may be resolved; or (c) consider only those Entries submitted prior to the when the Challenge was so compromised for the prizes.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you agree that Unity, Unity Affiliates, and Unity Admins, and each of their directors, officers, employees, agents and assigns, will not be liable for personal injuries, death, damages, expenses or costs or losses of any kind resulting from participation or inability to participate in this Challenge or acceptance of or use or inability to use a prize or parts thereof including, without limitation, claims, suits, injuries, losses and damages related to personal injuries, death, damage to or destruction of property, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation or portrayal in a false light (whether intentional or unintentional), whether under a theory of contract, tort (including negligence), warranty or other theory.

Your use of any other products and services required by these Rules, whether required by these Rules or not, are subject to the terms and conditions associated with such products or services, including the AIcrowd site and services.

BY SUBMITTING AN ENTRY, YOU ALSO ACCEPT AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY UNITY'S PRIVACY POLICY (HTTPS://UNITY3D.COM/LEGAL/PRIVACY-POLICY), AND THE UNITY TERMS OF SERVICE (HTTPS://UNITY3D.COM/LEGAL/TERMS-OF-SERVICE) IN ADDITION TO THESE RULES.

In the event any clause or provision of these Rules prove unenforceable, void or incomplete, the validity of the other conditions will remain unaffected.

© 2019 Unity Technologies. Unity Technologies ApS, Unity Technologies, Unity and their respective logos, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Unity Technologies ApS or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.