classNav
Google Assistant feature that guides you right to your desired room, even in the craziest of buildings
Inspiration
Do you remember how lost you were in first year while trying to find your first class? Our application, classNav, will never let you experience that again.
What It Does
classNav will walk with you towards your next class, while periodically informing you (through voice, earphones preferred!) on the exact path you need to take towards your class.
How we built it
We built classNav using Dialogflow, Google's human-computer interaction development tool that is based on natural language conversations. We handled various pathways and branches that each room had based on official floor plans. The backend was bootstrapped with Google Firebase and Node.js which enabled us to finish our project within the time frame of the hackathon.
Challenges we ran into
This was our first time using Google Firebase and Dialogflow, so getting up to speed with the interface as well as the commands was a challenge. Handling different pathways included extensive knowledge of Dialogflow's 'Follow-up Intent' was also a big hurdle. Also, we weren't familiar with Waterloo's STC building so in order to complete the app, we had to map out the whole area by physically visiting each floor.
What's next for classNav
classNav supports the building we were hacking in, the Science Teaching Complex (STC) of University of Waterloo, but the scope of this application can widen to cover more buildings, as well as more universities. Also, we may implement multiple starting points/entrances.
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