ShopSafe

Team Logo (top) and App Icon (bottom)
Python code to access Google data (left) and outputted stores (right-bottom)

Our shopping treks inspired us: Having to wait 30 minutes to enter stores, or being nervous in a packed store.

Many small businesses have struggled to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic as people are asked to stay home, and many refrain from shopping for fear of spreading or contracting the disease in crowded public spaces. As such, it is ideal to avoid long line ups and support local businesses as much as possible so as to support the economy as it slowly reopens. Our app, ShopSafe, provides users an optimal timeframe and location in which to go grocery shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic and shortly after.

We used Android Studio with Java, and Python to communicate with the Google Maps API and popularity data. The user selects a timeframe in which they are able to go grocery shopping and what they are looking to purchase. The app then uses its maps and popularity data to recommend grocery stores near the user and a timeframe in which they can shop to avoid long line ups, and therefore support social distancing measures.

None of us have experience with any of these, but we are learning quick on the job. While our app is not overly functional, our goal in entering this hackathon was to learn more about software development, hackathons, and the COVID-19 crisis. With regards to this goal, we were extremely successful:

Jonathan, who had never before worked with Android Studio successfully coded the back-end of multiple pages. Safia, who also had not yet worked with the software, was able to create a visually attractive front-end for these pages. Tristan created a Python code to interact with the Google Maps API and popularity data, returning a list of 5 stores in the area at which the user could shop. Finally, Joanna now understands how databases work; the difference between relational and real-time databases, SQL and non-SQL, how Google Cloud can be used to support similar software projects and how Firebase/Firestore can be implemented with various languages.

In the future, our goal would be to combine the different components of the project that each of us developped. We are proud of the project we've created and hope to pursue more hackathons in the future to apply our skills as they continue to develop.