Inspiration
Technology has succeeded in bringing people together across long distances, yet people in the same physical area are, ironically, spending less time interacting face-to-face with one another. For example, there are so many opportunities to meet new people in daily life, yet people tend to keep to themselves due to social norms. Hence, we wondered, is there a way to use technology to encourage interactions between people who are already within the same space?
What it does
Proximity is a messaging app that allows people to communicate with people near them, via technologies like Local Area Network (LAN) and Bluetooth. Often, there are times when people benefit from helping each other out, such as when carpooling, yet people find it difficult to approach strangers. Proximity has dedicated channels for people to post requests, ranging from discounts (such as buy one get one free deals) and sharing (like hitching a ride), to questions specific to that area (such as "What is the quickest way to get from here to the nearest MTR?"). Proximity also allows private chats from people who want to enjoy conversations with people around them and if the conversation goes well, they may even decide to meet up since they're both nearby. Conversations are not stored so interactions are in-the-moment-- spontaneous and tied to the location. We hope Proximity makes it easier for people to speak to people around them, building stronger communities.
