WhereWare?

Don't know how to get there? Use WhereWare there's no time to spare. WhereWare is easing your search for the right aisle, scan the code and navigate directly to your item in style.

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Inspiration

During the pandemic, many brick-and-mortar stores are short-staffed. This not only affects how efficiently the store runs, but also how efficiently customers navigate through aisles searching for products.

Our story stems from a personal experience of not being able to find an item at a local Canadian Tire store. When looking for somebody to help, we realized that there were no available associates at the front. From this experience, we were determined to develop a contactless solution that would help customers in navigating through a store, while also helping businesses that are short-staffed.

What it does

WhereWare virtually navigates customers to find items they are looking for in a store. Upon entering a store, customers simply scan the QR code at the front. The QR code will open up the specific store’s page on WhereWare, and customers can search for items they want to buy. The application then provides the location and visual map to help navigate through the store.

How we built it

WhereWare’s interface was built using React to ensure an in-browser responsive navigation experience. The front-end communicates with the Flask backend in order to access the inventory locations that are stored in a CockroachDB database.

Challenges we ran into

We each faced a lot of firsts during this hackathon, first react app, first time styling in CSS, first time using an SQL DBMS; therefore, with our limited knowledge in building a functional and visually pleasing web application, we struggled with small things like getting a button to be the right colour.

The biggest challenge we faced overall was implementing cockroachDB since we had never worked with a specific database management system outside of excel spreadsheets. It was a big learning curve, but a fun time problem solving along the way.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Submitting my first project at a hackathon - Rowena
  • Learning how to create and interact with SQL databases
  • First hack with a somewhat functional UI :)
  • Learning how react and javascript works and ending up having a decent UI

What we learned

  • How to use CockroachDB
  • How to use media query in CSS to separate the webpage design for iphone and desktop browser
  • Projects can be fun when you’re working with an awesome group!

What's next for WhereWare

  • Version 1.1 (October 2021 Release): GPS integration to allow users to follow real-time directions to the item they are looking for. This release will allow businesses to create an AR map of the store, simply by turning on their camera and walking through each aisle.

  • Version 1.2 (December 2021 Release): An auditory cue component will make WhereWare accessible to those who are visually impaired.

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