KonnectMe

Inspiration

Ageing can bring about many issues, such as isolation, emotional stress, and cognitive impairment. These negative impacts have been witnessed by all of us. This issue motivated us to think about how we can help seniors get more involved in the community and enable them to widen their network. While community centers and senior homes have initiatives to address this issue, they primarily cater to the mobile or long-term care home residents. We came up with a web app: Konnect Me! Konnect Me aims to create a more accessible platform for seniors to get involved in their communities and develop their social networks and skills. By fostering a sense of community and belonging, the application seeks to promote intergenerational understanding and respect

What it does

Konnect Me is a web application through which senior citizens can become engaged with the community. -Users have the ability to discover new friends and become part of groups that align with their interests. They can communicate with their new friends through messaging, calling, and video calling.

Users can enrol in classes, such as painting, language learning, etc., which are taught on a volunteer basis by young members of the community.
Users can also start classes of their own, such as reading to younger kids! Check out the entire GitHub repo! [link]https://github.com/kritgrover/deerhacks.

How we built it

We used JavaScript, HTML, Bootstrap and CSS to build our web application. After much brainstorming and discussion we decided to focus on senior citizens, as they are a frequently marginalized group. After selecting the senior citizen group as our focus, we directed our attention towards addressing the issue of limited accessibility to opportunities for this demographic. This led to the creation of Konnect Me, which aims to provide an online platform for seniors to engage with their community. As simple as the idea was, we felt it was unique and had the potential of positively impacting millions. Initially, we split up the work among team members to design various aspects of the application, such as designing the logo, deciding the layout, and working on the front-end and back-end. As we progressed, we added new features to enhance the functionality and impact of the project. Throughout the process, we documented our progress, learned from mistakes, and collaborated to create the final product.

Challenges we ran into

We encountered a major obstacle in determining the exact concept for our project, as our diverse experiences and perspectives initially created a challenge for us to decide what our strengths and goals were for this hackathon. But through effective communication, we eventually overcame this hurdle. On the technical front, we faced an issue while implementing the back-end using SpringBoot. The registration process required authentication to pass through a functional program and database to verify user credentials. However, while developing it, we kept receiving NULL values from the login form, preventing redirection to the index page.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of our project's potential to impact the lives of millions of senior citizens who are eager to engage with their communities. Working on this project has taught us about the value of teamwork and collaboration in generating innovative ideas. Despite the challenges we faced and being in an unfamiliar environment, we learned about programming, about ourselves as individuals, and were able to apply our knowledge towards a worthwhile cause. Overall, because of these reasons we feel extremely accomplished and fulfilled.

What we learned

When it comes to web development technologies, our team learned about the importance of front-end and back-end development. We used JavaScript, HTML, and CSS for front-end development and SpringBoot for back-end development. However, we faced technical issues with the back-end, particularly with implementing the registration and authentication process. This taught us the importance of thoroughly testing and debugging our code. In addition, we learned about the importance of creating an accessible and user-friendly application. This involved designing a simple and intuitive user interface and ensuring that the application was compatible with assistive technologies. Lastly, we learned about the potential of technology to positively impact the lives of marginalized communities, such as senior citizens. By creating an application that aimed to connect seniors with their community and provide them with opportunities for engagement, we realized the importance of using technology for social good.

What's next for KonnectMe

Our ultimate goal is to make this application available for seniors residing in long-term care facilities or those in hospitals. We envision this app being utilized on a daily basis by all members of the senior community, enabling them to interact with one another and learn new things. We aim to expand the application's features by including additional fields, such as 'Collaborate', where seniors can initiate group activities like writing a storybook, with young adults contributing illustrations to create a finished product for children. Another prospective field could be 'Games and Activities', providing seniors access to a range of multiplayer, one-on-one, and individual games, as well as movies and music. While this is an ambitious idea, we believe it is achievable with dedication and hard work.