Digi-Race

Digi-Race allows users to compete with friends in real-time running challenges from anywhere. Our app tracks distance and compares it with your opponents so you stay motivated on every run.

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Inspiration

The inspiration for Digi-Race began with the idea of using a FIFA-style heatmap to visualize the activity and performance of sports players. We wanted to blend this concept for everyday use, mixing in inspiration from Chess.com to focus on an interactive, competitive platform that keeps people active in an exciting way.

What it does

Digi-Race allows users to compete remotely in running competitions regardless of where they are. The app leverages phone sensors to track each runner’s distance over time to compare their performance. It allows users to track their stats and challenge others in a friendly, competitive environment to benefit their health.

How we built it

We built an app with a frontend that allows users to see their running stats and view their match results in running competitions. The backend handles the data processing and real-time tracking as well as storing user profiles and their race results. Our setup allows for efficient communication between the frontend and backend, allowing for race tracking and comparisons between users.

Challenges we ran into

One of our main challenges was achieving accurate, consistent distance tracking over time to obtain reliable position data. The app had to handle variances in phone sensors and location conditions to provide fair competition. Another challenge we stumbled upon was managing sequential requests to ensure data consistency. After receiving the initial request, we struggled to handle follow-up requests reliably, which is essential for tracking and updating real-time race data smoothly.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud of developing a system that could capture user distance data in real time and compare it to other users. We were able to achieve reliable distance tracking over a set interval of 50 seconds for a user and compare the results with another user. We were also proud of connecting our front and back end to enable a flow between the user interface and database to be more reliable in real time.

What we learned

We learned the intricacies of real-time data tracking and the challenges of using phone sensors for reliable distance measurement. We also gained valuable knowledge in connecting backend and frontend components while keeping accurate data and balancing the functionality with user experience.

What's next for Digi-Race

We hope to enhance our distance and position-tracking precision, especially for runners with non-linear paths. We want to better account for movement variations and adjust tracking intervals beyond 50 seconds. On top of that, we hope to have a more user-friendly interface to ensure a positive experience for users of the app as well as creating leaderboards and profiles for the users.

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