ProxyChat

Inspiration

Our inspiration came from the opening keynote speech from Walmart. He mentioned disasters and hurricanes, and we realized that in those types of situations, it can sometimes be hard to coordinate disaster relief and aid due to a lack of electricity (wifi) and cellular towers (cell signals). Therefore, we decided to create this interesting iOS application to assist in these types of situations. In the process of creating this application, we also realized other practical uses, including being able to communicate with strangers at gatherings such as sporting events.

What it does

ProxyChat utilizes the iOS feature of multipeer connectivity to daisy chain multiple iOS devices together, in order to create a mesh network in order to allow offline communication between people nearby.

How we built it

We utilized swift and multipeer connectivity, as well as using photoshop and other prototyping tools to help us quickly bootstrap and get off the ground.

Challenges we ran into

We ran into issues with implementing some APIs, and also due to our relatively little experience with hackathons and iOS development in general, we had a lot to learn.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Our challenge was also our greatest accomplishment. We definitely learned a lot, and were able to apply what we learned in order to create a completed hackathon submission within the course of 24 hours! :)

What we learned

We learned a lot about iOS development, as well as working together as a team and solving tough challenges.

What's next for ProxyChat

ProxyChat does not end at TAMUHacks. We realize the importance and benefits of a tool like ProxyChat, and plan to continue development so that we can release a finalized product to the general public.