Better Omnivox

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Inspiration

During our course selection we either got very poor schedules or had to spend a lot of our precious time that could have been used to scroll reels to create meticulous diagrams that showcase all possible schedule options. As a result, we wanted to solve this problem not only for ourselves but for our future selves (and you know, others too). In other words, we hate omnivox.

What it does

Using a database of course selection options, our project is able to analyze all possible combinations of classes with preferences set by the user to then generate them a visually appealing demonstration of possible course outlines.

How we built it

All front end (graphics) are done with Unity. Meanwhile, everything else is also done on a combination of c# for the Unity related integration and python for the interpretation of files that have our information.

Challenges we ran into

One of our goals had been to be able to analyse a pdf document that the school could have sent us, however due to the variability of syntax of said documents, we found consistent conversion into usable data difficult. However, it is something we hope to be able to achieve in the future. Additionally, this can be worked around by using AI to “smooth out” these documents.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of implementing algorithm that involves non-recursive depth first search with backtracking in order to be able to map out all possible combinations of classes that the user could choose.

What we learned

This project has helped us learn more about file computing and parsing, and specifically, the difficulties that arise with even minor inconsistencies within a document. Additionally, we learnt more about the process of computing an algorithm such as the one we implemented, as we have never built anything like it.

What's next for Better Omnivox

We hope to fully polish this project in time to be able to use it ourselves during our course selection for our next semester at cegep and while we’re at it we could share it to a couple friends. In terms of improvements we would like to try and find a way to be able to read the pdf file provided by the cegep as mentioned but we would also like to provide the user with even more selection options for schedules.