Inspiration
Adam and I were inspired to create something unique, something that currently is not being done today. We wanted to come up with a way to connect all Ford drivers around the world, creating a community amongst them. A community that other non-Ford drivers would want to be apart of.
What it does
FordFrenzy is a Ford vehicle specific app that portrays fun social experiences and connections, while at the same time having the capabilities to connect to your car and administer vehicle specific commands. You can see where your other Ford friends are headed, if they've made it home safe, if they are on their way to pick you up, etc. while at the same time being able to turn your vehicle on and off, lock and unlock it, check tire pressure, etc.
How we built it
We created our wireframing / prototype in Figma. Then turning to Unity to transform the prototype into an actual application, recreating the UI. Lastly, writing the code to connect to the Firebase back end as well as the code to connect to the Ford API.
Challenges we ran into
Unity is not the conventional framework to use for 2D UI/UX applications, so in the beginning we had some issues making smooth transitions between screens. Had to export our Unity build onto X code just to get it on our phones, which was a long and tedious process. Especially because at first we didn't have enough storage space on our laptop.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are proud of the fact that what started with a brainstorming session with no tangible product quickly turned into a functional mobile app. It has been very rewarding bringing our idea to life and seeing them first hand.
What we learned
We learned how to connect to an API with Unity, how to integrate Firebase with a Unity product, how to create slick UI/UX within unity and Figma.
What's next for FordFrenzy
We have many more ideas for FordFrenzy that we were unable to add to the app this round. On top of some more vehicle maintenance functionality (tire pressure, odometer, money spent on gas, etc) we have a more unique idea. Ford competitions / goals within the app where if the user wins they will receive promo codes / coupons from companies that have partnered with Ford. For example, "Who drove more miles this week, F150 or Explorer?" If the winner is F150 and that's what you drive, you would receive some sort of reward. The idea here to bring in more traffic to participating company's stores and websites. Also the potential of creating "Journey Memories" on our map page. Similar to the iPhone photos app where you can zoom in places around the world and see where you've taken photos, you could do the same thing here but rather than seeing photos you can see your past journeys that you've taken in those areas.
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