ConnectMe is an application that was developed as part of the HackNC 2023 hackathon, where students had 24h to ideate and submit a working product. Our team decided to work on a social mobile application to connect new students while helping them discover new places around campus.
Team: Ong Shao Yong, Thomas Barry, Vignesh Karthikeyan
Tech Stack: Java, Java XML, Firebase, Google Maps API, Android Studio, Figma
The first few weeks of college is always daunting for new students, especially for out-of-state or international students. Being thrown into a completely new environment with totally new people can be frightening, as was the case for two of our group members. As such, we hope ConnectMe helps to ease the transition into college for students, allowing them to find new friends while exploring the campus and nearby areas!
ConnectMe arranges meet-ups for students with the same interests at popular locations around campus! ConnectMe takes note of your favorite activities and preferences during signup. Then, when you are ready to connect with other students, simply press the the "Add" button, choose you preferred time, gender and group size, then submit to join the queue. ConnectMe will allocate you to your selected activity with likeminded students, using Google Maps API to search for the best nearby restaurants and places to ensure that your group has the best time possible!
Our team first planned the user interface on Figma and created a wireframe. The application was entirely built on Android Studio using Java. The backend database is set up on Firebase, and Google Maps API is used to search for restaurants and locations to host activities.
Being relatively new to mobile application development, we struggled with the intricacies of using XML. Troubleshooting the Firebase database, including connecting Android studio and sending and retrieving data, was challenging to do in such a short time frame.
We are proud to have completed a functioning Android mobile application within the short time frame. We completely implemented the backend of the application, setting up a functioning backend database and connecting it to our application. We also connected to Google Cloud's Places API to pick locations for our users to meet.
We learned how to tackle new technologies and challenges. We learned how to debug, and what we're capable of producing in such a short time frame.
Currently, the list of activities is limited to a predetermined list. Using classifiers and AI, we look to improve our matching algorithms to allow for a wider range of activities. We hope to work with the colleges to make school facilities available for meetups, and eventually expand to colleges around the world. Additionally, we would like to extend our application to IOS.