a MUCH better prototype
Prototyping Hell
A happy PandaPal

The Pitch

"Social Media" is irony at its finest. It's been undermining modern connections, and we've started to notice.

A happy PandaPal

PandaPal isn't smart. It doesn't use AI. There is no B2B SaaS agentic panda in the cloud that'll live your life for you. If that's what you need, this project isn't for you.

PandaPal is simple, you give one to someone that matters. And now its both of your jobs to connect. It's only job is to make sure that you dont throw out those important connections with the cheap ones online. It doesn't need WiFi or LTE. It cant talk to someone across the globe. Its simply a beacon that says "I'm here, lets catch up".

PandaPal is a way to stay connected with those that matter the most. And if it takes the guilt of a sad, hungry panda to finally get people connect again, then we'll do it.

What it does

PandaPal is a paired virtual pet system where each device shows an emotion (happy, sad, excited, etc.) on a small display. The emotions of the panda reflect how your connection with the other Panda is doing. Both of you get 3 rain checks and the only way to refill that meter is to actually connect.

The point isn't to keep communicating over the internet or this "pandanet", make plans, be uncomfortable, don't let the panda be sad.

How we built it

We used two ESP32-C3 microcontrollers, SSD1306 OLED displays, SX1278 LoRa modules, and push buttons. The Panda has a "connection health" bar and 3 rain check hearts. The bar slowly depletes and can only be replenished by connecting the two PandaPals together over the onewire protocol.

The button can be used up to 3 times for a "Rain Check" as we are aware that life does happen, but it cannot be an excuse forever. The Panda is part of your life too.

Challenges we ran into

Prototype PandaPal

Simplifying the interface to something that isn't feature rich. It is easy to add bells-and-whistles but we found that limiting the resources that we had was much more difficult to work with.
Ensuring reliable LoRa communication with minimal packet size + Consistently being able to send packets was initially a matter of brute forcing range and other parameters.
Animating sprites without a complex graphics library by using simple frame loops to quickly prototype them.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Fully working dual-device virtual pet system with a simple interface. No fluff.
Lightweight 2-byte LoRa packets for maximum range.
Smooth sprite animations and modular code structure
The cutest Pandas!

What's next for PandaPal

A cute case to allow carrying it wherever you go.
Improving LoRa range and reliability.
Minimizing the footprint down to the size of a keychain.
Battery and low power management.
Disconnection and reconnection handling on the lora network.

The data

Attention dilution: Humans can only maintain a limited number of meaningful social bonds. Research shows that when our attention is fragmented across countless shallow interactions, the quality of our real relationships declines. Social platforms encourage cheap, low‑stakes exchanges that drain the same cognitive bandwidth as genuine ones, leaving us socially tired but not socially nourished. https://arxiv.org/abs/1703.06361
Active use isn’t enough: Even when people say “I only use it to talk to friends,” studies suggest that digital interactions often lack the emotional richness needed to engage our social instincts. Both active and passive use can correlate with rising loneliness because the medium itself strips away the cues that make connection feel real. https://news.web.baylor.edu/news/story/2025/social-medias-double-edged-sword-study-links-both-active-and-passive-use-rising
The rising cost of connection: Messaging, waiting for replies, interpreting tone, and coordinating plans all introduce friction. We spend more time managing communication than actually connecting. The cognitive load increases, but the emotional payoff doesn’t as one path consumes energy without giving anything back.