Universe

What is Universe?
How does Universe work?
Let's get started!

Inspiration

Hello everyone! We have accepted the challenge of improving online student connectivity with our project.

When’s the last time you ate out in a restaurant, went out to watch a movie with friends, or simply enjoyed a festive holiday with all of your family gathered?

For most of us, especially students, COVID-19 has left detrimental impacts on not only our physical, but also, our mental health. It has left us feeling isolated and alone. In a new normal, where faces are concealed by masks, and we are separated from the ones we love the most, it is no surprise that students’ anxiety and stress levels have increased exponentially.

A recent study conducted by KFF shows that the average share of adults reporting symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder from January to June 2019 has quadrupled in January 2021. This is an ongoing problem, and we believe that an ongoing problem requires an immediate solution.

What it does

This is why we developed Universe, an app for you to virtually connect with other students based on similar interests and hobbies. A way to make new friends, build everlasting relationships and stay connected in a time of isolation.

Don’t let this pandemic stop you from making new friends!

How it works

We will first ask you to register a profile with us, where you are able to select your interests from a list of topics and add your degree major. After that, our algorithm will magically match you with other students, depending on whether you want to connect with folks who have similar interests or similar majors. Complete your user profile by adding a nice picture of yourself. Then, head on over to your community tab to see who the app matched you up with. After browsing through your matched users, strike up a conversation with a user and begin planning your virtual date today!

How we built it

One unique characteristic about this app is that we personally designed all graphics using a combination of Procreate, Photoshop and Rive Animations. We used a noSQL Google-cloud based storage which allows us to store and read large amounts of data while allowing us to easily query them. After querying, we can organize the data in a user friendly manner and we can incorporate live updates to improve the user experience. Several UX features are built upon ionic components, which is a modern progressive web application framework that gives our app the farthest reach possible by targeting all platforms, be it iOS, android, or the web.

Furthermore, our application is stateful, meaning it incorporates different types of dynamic data such as user matches, user interests and instant text messaging. All live. All on the cloud.

What's next for Universe

We have big plans for this app! In the future, we plan on including features such as video chatting, blogging posts, and adding an email verification step for extra security. Even though COVID 19 has separated us from each physically, don’t allow it to let it disconnect you emotionally. Have the universe at your hands and stay connected.