17-Lynx

Lynx in action (Taren)
Lynx in action (Parth)
Sign-in Screen
Settings Screen

Inspiration

The inspiration for Lynx originated from our team's shared vision of building meaningful connections and fostering communities. We recognized that traditional social media lacked the personal touch of real-life interactions. During brainstorming sessions, we stumbled upon the idea of using Augmented Reality (AR) to bridge the gap between online and offline interactions. This led to the concept of Lynx, a social media platform that allows users to retrieve social media information from those nearby through AR technology. We aimed to create a seamless AR experience that would empower users to connect with everyone around them. We worked tirelessly to develop a sleek mobile app with a user-friendly interface, where users could easily build their profiles and showcase their desired social media accounts. The result was Lynx, an innovative one-stop AR hub for social interactions.

What it Does

Lynx is a cutting-edge social media platform that aims to enhance connections and foster communities. Leveraging Augmented Reality (AR) technology, Lynx allows users to retrieve the social media information of those nearby, creating a unique and personalized experience. With Lynx, users can build their profiles and showcase their desired social media accounts, making it easy to connect with others and discover new connections. The app provides a seamless AR experience, empowering users to connect with everyone around them. The sleek mobile interface ensures an easy and secure experience, making Lynx a go-to platform for building meaningful relationships and expanding social networks.

How We Built It

Our team brought this innovative concept to life by developing the iOS app using Xcode, Apple's powerful development platform. We leveraged the built-in AR tools provided by Apple to track a person's location and anchor their selected social media information in real-time. Xcode's UI and UX tools were utilized to create a sleek and modern app interface, ensuring a seamless user experience. To showcase the concept, we also created a web AR version using Niantic's 8th Wall, allowing users to experience the app's functionality through a web demo. A marketing website was developed to highlight the app's features and included the web demo as a demonstration of the app's capabilities.

Challenges We Ran Into

All of us were unfamiliar with the coding languages used for each aspect of the project. This included Swift, A-frame, and Html. This posed a huge problem and time consumer because of the learning curves involved. When using Xcode to track subjects in frame, we experienced issues with correctly identifying the main part of a subject. We also ran into troubles when trying to merge UI code and backend code. One of our prototypes refused to function because it was programmed in the wrong environment: Storyboard instead of SwiftUI. Thankfully, through much perseverance and trail and error, most issues were resolved. When it came to the web AR demo, the hardship was learning Html. It took several hours to figure out how to work with the 8th wall workspace and create the text objects that track the head. The development process for our project presented unique challenges as our team had limited familiarity with the coding languages used, such as Swift and HTML/A-frame. This resulted in significant learning curves and time-consuming efforts to understand and implement the required coding. In particular, when using Xcode to track subjects in the frame, we encountered difficulties in accurately identifying the main part of a subject, and merging UI code with backend code proved to be challenging. We also faced issues with prototypes that were programmed in the wrong environment, such as using Storyboard instead of SwiftUI. However, with perseverance and trial and error, we were able to resolve most of these issues. The web AR demo also presented challenges, as we had to learn HTML to work with the 8th Wall workspace and create text objects that track the head, which required several hours of effort to overcome. Despite these hurdles, our team's determination and perseverance ultimately led to the successful resolution of challenges during the development process.

Accomplishments That We're Proud Of

Our team takes pride in the sleek and modern appearance of our app, which offers a professional-like experience that surpasses user expectations. Overcoming the language learning barrier was a significant achievement, as we are now proficient in two additional coding languages. We are also proud of successfully executing our initial idea and building the complete infrastructure of the product, which can be further refined into a fully capable app. Our team's dedication and hard work have resulted in a product that we are proud of and excited to share with users.

What We Learned

Throughout this project, our team had the opportunity to learn and master new skills. We became proficient in two additional coding languages and gained expertise in working with Xcode and its AR resources. We also learned how to navigate the 8th wall workspace and develop web AR experiences. Additionally, this hackathon provided us with valuable lessons in collaboration and teamwork, as it was our first time working together as a team. We are proud of our collective learning and growth, and these experiences have equipped us with valuable knowledge and skills for future projects.

What's Next for Lynx

Our progress so far has been significant, as we have built the entire infrastructure for a flagship app that is capable of delivering a seamless user experience. However, we recognize that there is room for further development. Our next focus will be on refining the app to support multiple profiles, as it is currently in the prototype phase and can only display one individual's profile. We also plan to expand the social media integration options, allowing users to input their preferred social media platforms beyond/instead of Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Youtube, LinkedIn, and personal websites. Our goal is to continually enhance and iterate upon the app to meet the evolving needs and expectations of our users.