Project OM

Inspiration

In many real-world scenarios—natural disasters, political unrest, or infrastructure failures—communication networks are often the first to collapse. When the internet and cellular services are unavailable, people are left isolated without access to critical information.

Project OM was inspired by the need for a resilient, decentralized communication system where information can still flow through people, even when traditional networks fail.

What it does

Project OM is an offline-first peer-to-peer communication platform that enables users to:

Share critical alerts, safe routes, and local updates Chat with nearby devices without internet Relay messages across multiple devices (multi-hop propagation) Store and retrieve information using QR-based physical data drops

It ensures that information continues to move, even in complete network blackouts.

Challenges we ran into

No Bluetooth / Wi-Fi Direct in browser forced us to rethink local communication Implementing WebRTC without internet signaling required QR-assisted handshakes Ensuring true offline-first behavior with service workers and caching Managing data consistency and deduplication across devices Handling network unreliability and intermittent connectivity

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Built a fully offline-capable communication system Implemented real multi-device data propagation (A → B → C) Designed a hybrid system (WebRTC + QR) that works in all conditions Created a privacy-first, zero-identity architecture Developed a system that continues functioning even when parts of the network fail

What we learned

Real-world systems must handle constraints, not ideal conditions Offline-first design is fundamentally different from traditional apps Browser limitations force creative solutions like QR signaling Simplicity and reliability matter more than complexity in critical systems Distributed systems are as much about people and movement as technology

What's next for Project OM

Improve WebRTC stability and multi-peer connections Add map-based safe route visualization Enhance encryption and security (end-to-end protection) Implement better sync optimization (Bloom filters, compression) Explore native app integration for Bluetooth/Wi-Fi Direct support

Built With

• aes-256-gcm
• flutter
• hmac-sha256.-database:-hive-(alert-storage)-&-sharedpreferences-(identity).-apis:-mobile-scanner-(qr)
• html5.-networking:-udp-discovery
• javascript
• qr-flutter
• riverpod
• tcp-relay
• websockets.-security:-x25519-(ecdh)