## Inspiration

We were inspired by our lack of engagement with certain school activities, and we saw an opportunity to embrace the use of phones in class for educational purposes.

## What it does

We offer a platform for anyone to make a scavenger hunt and then host it. By entering a game code and a username on a phone app, you are able to take place in a scavenger-hunt. You are given a clue to the next location, and once you get within a certain radius of the location, you will be given the next clue. Your time is your score, and the first to finish is the winner.

## How I built it

We constructed the app using Android Studio in Java, utilizing the Google Maps SDK for Android API to determine the user's location. and generate a map. We also used a customized JSON file, which we used to customize the map graphics. In order to store game data, we implemented Google Firebase and Google Cloud in our project. In a further iteration of our app, we would also use this for photo recognition.

## Challenges I ran into

This was our first time creating an Android app, and our first time using many of the APIs. Although. we had all previously used Java before, we had started off in Kotlin, a language we were less familiar in, and then made the switch partway during the hackathon.

## Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Finishing a working model of the application with a functioning UI, databasing, and processing within 36 hours.

## What I learned

We learned how to use various APIs, how to build Android apps, and React from workshops we attended.

## What's next for go!

A nicely formatted teacher's app to be able to create and host scavenger hunts would be something we would spend time to flesh out, along with new modes for guided museum tours and a photo hunt using an AI database. We would also add support for Apple devices and tablets.
## Inspiration

Whenever I go on vacation, what I always fondly look back on is the sights and surroundings of specific moments. What if there was a way to remember these associations by putting them on a map to look back on? We strived to locate a problem, and then find a solution to build up from. What if instead of sorting pictures chronologically and in an album, we did it on a map which is easy and accessible?

## What it does

This app allows users to collaborate in real time on making maps over shared moments. The moments that we treasure were all made in specific places, and being able to connect those moments to the settings of those physical locations makes them that much more valuable. Users from across the world can upload pictures to be placed onto a map, fundamentally physically mapping their favorite moments.

## How we built it

The project is built off a simple React template. We added functionality a bit at a time, focusing on creating multiple iterations of designs that were improved upon. We included several APIs, including: Google Gemini and Firebase. With the intention of making the application very accessible to a wide audience, we spent a lot of time refining the UI and the overall simplicity yet useful functionality of the app.

## Challenges we ran into

We had a difficult time deciding the precise focus of our app and which features we wanted to have and which to leave out. When it came to actually creating the app, it was also difficult to deal with niche errors not addressed by the APIs we used. For example, Google Photos was severely lacking in its documentation and error reporting, and even after we asked several experienced industry developers, they could not find a way to work around it. This wasted a decent chunk of our time, and we had to move in a completely different direction to get around it.

## Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud of being able to make a working app within the given time frame. We're also happy over the fact that this event gave us the chance to better understand the technologies that we work with, including how to manage merge conflicts on Git (those dreaded merge conflicts). This is our (except one) first time participating in a hackathon, and it was beyond our expectations. Being able to realize such a bold and ambitious idea, albeit with a few shortcuts, it tells us just how capable we are.

## What we learned

We learned a lot about how to do merges on Git as well as how to use a new API, the Google Maps API. We also gained a lot more experience in using web development technologies like JavaScript, React, and Tailwind CSS. Away from the screen, we also learned to work together in coming up with ideas and making decisions that were agreed upon by the majority of the team. Even with being friends, we struggled to get along super smoothly while working through our issues. We believe that this experience gave us an ample amount of pressure to better learn when to make concessions and also be better team players.

## What's next for Glimpses

Glimpses isn't as simple as just a map with pictures, it's an album, a timeline, a glimpse into the past, but also the future. We want to explore how we can encourage more interconnectedness between users on this app, so we want to allow functionality for tagging other users, similar to social media, as well as providing ways to export these maps into friendly formats for sharing that don't necessarily require using the app. We also seek to better merge AI into our platform by using generative AI to summarize maps and experiences, but also help plan events and new memories for the future.
## Inspiration

Our project is inspired by the sister of one our creators, Joseph Ntaimo. Joseph often needs to help locate wheelchair accessible entrances to accommodate her, but they can be hard to find when buildings have multiple entrances. Therefore, we created our app as an innovative piece of assistive tech to improve accessibility across the campus.

## What it does

The user can find wheelchair accessible entrances with ease and get directions on where to find them.

## How we built it

We started off using MIT’s Accessible Routes interactive map to see where the wheelchair friendly entrances were located at MIT. We then inspected the JavaScript code running behind the map to find the latitude and longitude coordinates for each of the wheelchair locations.

We then created a Python script that filtered out the latitude and longitude values, ignoring the other syntax from the coordinate data, and stored the values in separate text files.

We tested whether our method would work in Python first, because it is the language we are most familiar with, by using string concatenation to add the proper Java syntax to the latitude and longitude points. Then we printed all of the points to the terminal and imported them into Android Studio.

After being certain that the method would work, we uploaded these files into the raw folder in Android Studio and wrote code in Java that would iterate through both of the latitude/longitude lists simultaneously and plot them onto the map.

The next step was learning how to change the color and image associated with each marker, which was very time intensive, but led us to having our custom logo for each of the markers.

Separately, we designed elements of the app in Adobe Illustrator and imported logos and button designs into Android Studio. Then, through trial and error (and YouTube videos), we figured out how to make buttons link to different pages, so we could have both a FAQ page and the map.

Then we combined both of the apps together atop of the original maps directory and ironed out the errors so that the pages would display properly.

## Challenges we ran into/Accomplishments

We had a lot more ideas than we were able to implement. Stripping our app to basic, reasonable features was something we had to tackle in the beginning, but it kept changing as we discovered the limitations of our project throughout the 24 hours. Therefore, we had to sacrifice features that we would otherwise have loved to add.

A big difficulty for our team was combining our different elements into a cohesive project. Since our team split up the usage of Android Studio, Adobe illustrator, and programming using the Google Maps API, it was most difficult to integrate all our work together.

We are proud of how effectively we were able to split up our team’s roles based on everyone’s unique skills. In this way, we were able to be maximally productive and play to our strengths.

We were also able to add Boston University accessible entrances in addition to MIT's, which proved that we could adopt this project for other schools and locations, not just MIT.

## What we learned

We used Android Studio for the first time to make apps. We discovered how much Google API had to offer, allowing us to make our map and include features such as instant directions to a location. This helped us realize that we should use our resources to their full capabilities.

## What's next for HandyMap

If given more time, we would have added many features such as accessibility for visually impaired students to help them find entrances, alerts for issues with accessing ramps and power doors, a community rating system of entrances, using machine learning and the community feature to auto-import maps that aren't interactive, and much, much more. Most important of all, we would apply it to all colleges and even anywhere in the world.