MingaConnect
Inspiration: The inspiration for our project came from a critical social challenge faced by many in urban environments: loneliness. Munich, known for its vibrant culture and bustling activity, still sees individuals struggling to connect meaningfully with others. The task provided by the city of Munich therefore resonated deeply with us. We wanted to create something that not only brought people together but did so in a way that felt personal, seamless and lowered the barrier to entry.
What We Learned: Throughout this hackathon, we gained invaluable insights into:
Understanding User Needs: Learning how to address loneliness and isolation required delving into the psychology of social connections and designing features that felt inviting. AI Implementation: Integrating AI to create relevant events pushed us to explore advanced natural language processing and geolocation services. Collaboration & Problem-Solving: Tackling real-world challenges as a team helped us improve our collaboration and project management skills.
How We Built the Project: Our app was built with a focus on user-friendly design and smart automation. The main goal was to automate the creation of events as we believe that the effort required to plan and organize events often serves as a significant barrier to social interaction . Here's how we approached it:
Front-End Development: We used Swift to create an intuitive and visually appealing interface that users could navigate easily. Back-End Development: The back-end, powered by Flask and Python, handles user data securely and efficiently. AI Integration: We used K-means as a state of the art clustering algorithm to group users based on their interests and location and therefore dynamically create fitting events Third Party Data Integration: We use data from the city of Munich to display existing events and initiatives like the 'Ratschbankerl'
Challenges We Faced: Balancing AI Personalization: Fine-tuning the AI to generate meaningful events that were fitting in regards to their location, the chosen activity and the chosen date was a significant challenge. Data Privacy: Ensuring that user data was handled securely and ethically required careful planning and implementation. Time Constraints: With the hackathon’s tight schedule, we had to prioritize features while ensuring a functional and impactful product. Location-Based Functionality: Incorporating accurate geolocation services to tailor events for users in Munich was challenging to implement.
Conclusion: Our app represents a small step towards a bigger goal: fostering meaningful connections in a bustling city like Munich. By using AI and thoughtful design, we aimed to create an experience that feels both personal and inclusive. The journey was challenging but rewarding, and we are proud to have built something that can genuinely make a difference in people's lives.
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