eMbark

eMbark App Interface

Inspiration

As students, we’ve all had short breaks between classes where we want to get work done but waste time walking around trying to find an open place to study. We wanted to create a smarter way to answer a simple question: “Where should I study right now?”

What it does

eMbark recommends the best nearby study space based on a student’s current location, next class, walking time, occupancy, and noise level. It shows how busy different buildings and floors are and estimates how much time a student can realistically study before they need to leave for class.

How we built it

Challenges we ran into

We built eMbark as an interactive, map-first web application. We used campus location data, calendar information, walking-time estimates, and mocked real-time occupancy data to rank study locations. The interface uses color-coded occupancy indicators, building details, floor-level information, and personalized recommendations.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

One of our biggest challenges was figuring out how to combine multiple factors—distance, class timing, occupancy, and noise—into one useful recommendation. We also had to think carefully about how real-time occupancy data could eventually be collected and updated while keeping the interface fast and easy to understand.

What we learned

We learned a lot about designing around a real user problem, integrating different types of data, building recommendation logic, and creating an interface that makes complex information easy to understand. We also learned how important it is to balance technical feasibility with a simple user experience.

What's next for eMbark

Next, we want to integrate real Google Calendar data, live routing, and real-time occupancy information from privacy-conscious wireless sensing systems. We also want to expand from building-level recommendations to floor- and zone-level availability and eventually bring eMbark to campuses beyond the University of Michigan.