BuzzSpot

Inspiration

Our inspiration for this project came from the difficulty in reserving study rooms across campus. As students at Georgia Tech, we found that reserving study spaces can be challenging, as many buildings use their own methods for reserving a space. In addition, many times, even after reserving a room, the challenge continues with confusing maps of the building layout that are meant to help students locate their reserved spaces. We wanted to optimize the time students can use for actual studying rather than spending time researching how and where to book a study room on campus.

What it does

Our website is optimizing the room reservation process through an updated website that allows users to use their GT email to create an account in which they can access 3D models of study rooms and locations around campus. Our website will feature a home page that will allow students to book a specific room through their selections. In addition, students can also use our one-of-a-kind feature that allows students to enter their current location and the time they want to leave the study spot. Our website will then suggest rooms that meet their requirements and availability and then sort them out by the shortest distance. For the map reservation feature, users will be presented with a 2D map of the campus, where they can select the building they want to study in. A 2D map of the building’s floor layout will then show which rooms are available. After selecting an available room, users can preview it through a 3D model, with a room description underneath that includes amenities and room capacity. Once a room is reserved, our map system will also allow students to find it through a GPS that directs them to the room using a 2D map. The last main feature of our website is our data collection. Our website will collect past bookings and what the user looks for specifically and will formulate a personal page of recommended study spots. That matches previous selections and specifications.

How we built it

We built this project using JavaScript, HTML, and 3d.js for the 3D preview. Using the geolocation API, we were able to allow users to share their location so we could help them look for the closest study space. In addition, we added a Google Maps feature embedded in the website to help our users locate their specific study room building on campus. Before the construction of our website, we had to research the layout of every building on campus that allows Georgia Tech students to reserve for studying in order to further assist our 3D model of each building that contains study rooms, so our website can be as accurate as possible.

Challenges we ran into

Some challenges we ran into for this project is finding the layout map of each building, as some were outdated or some were just unavailable to the public resulting in us having to do our own field research of certain buildings in order to bring the most accurate 3D model of each building on campus. Another challenge that we ran into during this project is understanding how we can access a user's current location to assist them with finding the nearest study room. Both challenges were something we had to overcome as a team, and through learning and adapting, we were able to create our website as we intended.

What we learned

Through this project, our team was able to learn how to efficiently distribute tasks among our team. In addition, our team learned how to render a 3D model of Georgia Tech's campus buildings using 3D.js, which is something that was mostly new to our team. From this project, we also gained more hands-on experience with HTML and learned how to access a user's location.