Third Space

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  Front page before user profile creation

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  Example of a company listing on front page

Inspiration

We reflected on our personal experiences of failing to connect with our local communities or simply wishing we had more connection to our community. We also examined current social media apps closely and decided that in today's competitive market, we wanted to shift our focus to something else: a non-profit. Ultimately, we are a team willing to put our values and contribution to society higher than earnings, and our goal is to provide a platform for businesses that need exposure and, in turn, give a voice to the voiceless.

What it does

Third Space is a mobile application that mimics the exciting and fast-paced style of "Tinder" while shifting the recreational lens to something more impactful to all of our very own communities. In the application, both users and small businesses are able to create a profile for themselves, where they will add tags that label either what sort of services/goods they are offering or looking for. The businesses will be able to promote themselves by having the ability to add multimedia to their profile page, allowing customers to learn anything they would want them to know about their company with just a click. On the customer's end, they will swipe through businesses on a Tinder-style explorer page and learn more about the businesses they swipe right on. Occasionally, volunteering opportunities for either local businesses or local organizations will pop up on a user's page, and they will be more informed about this role, also having the choice to swipe right or left on the opportunity.

How we built it

We built our application using Next.JS and Pytorch. The front end was done with Next.JS and interfaced with Firebase to store our data. The backend was interfaced using React, and we developed our machine-learning model using Pytorch.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was overcomplicating our initial ideas. We had the idea of creating an application for community connection and brainstormed over 20+ possible features but were unable to initially hone in on any specific aspect that made the application unique. We originally came up with the idea of a texting component to the application and wanted to focus on simplicity and accessibility for users since, sometimes, opening an app and committing to a search can be a hassle. We later ran into functionality challenges and came up with the idea of having a Tinder-style explorer page instead.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are very proud of our entire project idea and how well we were able to execute this idea, given that we had no prior ideas or information about what to build and what track to choose. We also were proud of our problem-solving especially when encountering unpredicted and disruptive situations.

What we learned

We learned that it was very important to choose a good location as our workspace. During the final hour of our hacking, our building had a fire emergency and alarms as well as sprinklers went off in the very room that we were working in. We were also on the 25th floor of the building, which made it very difficult to exit as well.

What's next for Third Space

We currently have a solid, functioning foundation for the Third Space mobile application. We are hoping to expand to include dynamic location tracking that suggests nearby companies using real location data. We are also hoping to use more machine learning to improve the accuracy of user-business matching and eventually implement in-app AI tools for better user support and suggestions.

Built With

• firebase
• node.js
• python
• pytorch