PaperTrails

Friends bar section
Receipt inspired collage of reviews
Live depiction of working UI and walking player model
An achievement award for accomplishing tasks
receipt example

Inspiration

When searching for places to explore or restaurants to look at, breaking through the brick-long reviews and or deciphering vague texts seems exhausting. Why not see places your loving and endearing friends have visited!

What it does

PaperTrail is an interactive app that tracks the locations you visit and lets you leave reviews and photos as you explore. As you discover more of a city, you earn XP — turning everyday exploration into a game, and making it easy to see where your friends have been and what they loved.

How we built it

We used OpenStreetMap (OSM) data to pull real building geometry and render 3D models of the city, with a player icon that moves through the world as the user explores. We layered in the Google Maps API to surface real-time info on nearby restaurants, colleges, and points of interest. Supabase handles our backend — storing buildings, user reviews, and photos, all keyed to OSM building IDs so data stays tied to real-world locations.

Challenges we ran into

Our biggest challenge was keeping track of all our data through Supabase — from user accounts and login to buildings and reviews — while making sure everything stayed in sync. On top of that, getting the interface to feel seamless was tough: we had to blend OSM building geometry, Google Maps data, and our own hand-drawn design elements into one cohesive experience without the seams showing. Handling authentication reliably while layering in custom visuals on top of two different mapping data sources took a lot of iteration.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

A couple things that we are proud of was getting the OSM building models to load and follow a player icon that looks visually pleasing. However, not only that, but also using Google Maps API calls to really be able to track where there are restaurants or even colleges nearby that would encourage the users to really go out and see more of their town.

What we learned

We learned about integrating Google Maps API to being able to relocate where places were as well as using Supabase to being able to store these buildings and reviews in accordance to the OSM building ids.

What's next for PaperTrail

Next on the list is to implement a more customizable feature set, such as stickers, scanned items, and more suitable "collage"-worthy elements based on a place's location or category. In the end, the user will have a more encompassing experience based on their aesthetic or design preferences.