Social Proximity

Inspiration

We were inspired by the challenge introverts often face at networking events—initiating connections can feel overwhelming, even when surrounded by like-minded people. Our team wanted to create a tool that empowers users to form meaningful professional connections in real time, using AI and proximity-based technology.

We asked ourselves:

What if you could discover people around you who share similar skills, interests, or academic backgrounds—without needing to approach them cold?

Thus, Social Proximity was born.

What it does

Social Proximity is a React Native mobile app that lets users: Create a simple profile (name, email, school, skills, interests). Share their location (with permission). Be notified when other compatible users are nearby. Use AI to analyze profile compatibility and suggest potential collaborators.

Bonus feature: ProjectPod, an intelligent suggestion engine that matches more than two users for potential teamwork opportunities.

How we built it

Frontend: Built with React Native + Expo for cross-platform support.
Backend: We started with Golang for user and location data handling, then experimented with a Node.js WebSocket server to support real-time notifications.
Database: MongoDB was used to store user data and geolocation. -AI/ML: We used Cohere API to analyze user skills, education, and background to find compatibility matches. -Push Notifications: Initially tried Native Notify, later shifted to Expo’s Notification API for better integration and control.

Challenges we ran into

Getting push notifications to work reliably across devices.
Designing real-time interaction between AI compatibility scoring and user proximity logic.
Handling multiple frameworks (Go backend, Node WebSocket server, React Native frontend) within a short timeframe.
Building a system that’s privacy-safe, avoiding the direct display of another user’s exact location.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud of how much we accomplished in such a short time—especially given how complex the system is under the hood. Some highlights we're proud of:

Using AI beyond just chatbot replies — we applied Cohere to meaningfully compare user profiles based on real-world compatibility like skills, education, and interests.
Combining real-time location tracking with AI matchmaking, something we didn’t see other teams do.
Building a full-stack system across different languages and frameworks: React Native, Go, Node.js, WebSockets, MongoDB, and more.
Making privacy a priority, with smart location matching that doesn’t reveal exact positions.
Coming up with ProjectPod, a creative twist that allows more than two people to collaborate based on skill synergy.

What we learned

How to set up and connect servers using Go and Node.js, and how to work with tools like MongoDB, WebSockets, and REST APIs effectively.
How to build real-time features in React Native, including push notifications and live location tracking.
The importance of security and privacy, especially when working with user location and sensitive profile data.
How to integrate AI meaningfully, using Cohere to go beyond basic prompts and generate smart compatibility insights between users.
How to collaborate with new teammates under time pressure — we split responsibilities between backend, frontend, and AI, and learned how to communicate clearly, pivot quickly, and support each other.
We also gained a better understanding of how to scope ideas and what makes a project "empowering" in the real world.

What's next for Social Proximity

Enhancing ProjectPod with project recommendations based on shared goals. Integrating video call or chat features after compatibility is confirmed. Expanding to event-based matching: users attending the same event can discover collaborators on specific themes.