Hobbyquest

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  Fun theme

Inspiration

HobbyQuest solves the common problem faced by students who have big plans and a desire to explore new activities but lack the motivation, energy, or time to organize and host events. In the fast-paced world of university life, it can be challenging to pursue hobbies or connect with others who share similar interests. While many students want to engage in exciting activities, the stress of planning and coordinating often holds them back.

HobbyQuest makes it possible for students to participate in new and interesting activities without the burden of planning or figuring out their free time. By acting as a host and organizer, HobbyQuest uses intelligent machine learning algorithms to bring together students with the same hobbies, interests, locations, and time availabilities. This enables them to explore, experience, and live their passions effortlessly.

The app encourages students to dedicate time to what they love doing outside of work and school, all while making it easy to connect with like-minded individuals in their area. Unlike school societies that may not always be active or focused on local connections, HobbyQuest ensures consistent engagement and nearby networking opportunities.

What it does

HobbyQuest is an application specifically designed for students that creates and hosts events based on shared interests in the same area. The app's intelligent algorithms scan available students in a specific location and automatically generate events tailored to their shared hobbies and time availabilities. When a suitable event is created, HobbyQuest sends personalized notifications to students about upcoming activities that match their interests, schedules, and locations. The only thing students need to do is accept the invitation and show up – no planning, no stress, and no creativity needed.

Once enough students accept an invitation, the event is confirmed and set to occur. This streamlined process eliminates the challenges of conflicting schedules, the intimidation of initiating events, and the hassle of coordinating with others. By using HobbyQuest, students can easily participate in activities that fit their interests, time schedules, and locations, all while connecting with fellow students who share their passions. It's the perfect solution for those who want to explore and engage in new experiences without the burden of organization and planning.

How we built it

We built this with an HTML frontend connecting to a Python backend with Flask API. It is a simple flow showcasing how the algorithm will work in a real-life implementation. The necessary user data - location, available time, and hobbies/interests - will be processed by our algorithm, which will recommend an event that has already been created or simply create a new event for those with the same or similar interests. Our algorithm was built with Python by clustering the users using a K-Nearest Neighbour algorithm.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was that an idea that initially sounds simple can, on closer inspection, bring with it many problems that you hadn't thought of. Even the smallest decisions can have major consequences and changes to the algorithm can only be made with great care. It was also a challenge to combine the different backgrounds and skills and get the most out of our team. The time constraints and the resulting pressure were also not to be underestimated, and were particularly hard on us in the late evening hours. It was also a challenge that when tasks were divided up, everyone was responsible for their own part and could only be supported by the others to a limited extent, which was very difficult and frustrating, especially when there were recurring errors in the code. Also, we couldn't realise the connection between Flask and the database manipulation for displaying the information via the automated template engine.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of the fact that despite the time pressure and a team of people we didn't know before, we developed a working prototype for an idea in under 24 hours that everyone is proud of. Despite all the problems, we developed something together as a team, even though most of us don't have a computer science background. Each of us worked hard and gave everything and no matter how we did in the competition, we are proud to have experienced this together as a team, as it was the first hackathon for almost all of us. We would love to do it again!

What we learned

Over the last 24 hours, we have learnt to make quick decisions as a team and to put our own opinions aside for the good of the team. We have also learnt to make the most of our backgrounds and skills to create a product. Lastly, and probably most importantly, we have learnt that perfectionism is not the way to a solution, but that getting something done is much more important and a perfect product does not exist. There are always things that can be improved and new features that can't be built in. But building a working prototype is much more important than having a perfect prototype with lots of features but no functionality.

What's next for Hobbyquest

As we continue to develop and improve HobbyQuest, we have several exciting features and enhancements planned. Our primary goal is to significantly expand the variety of interests and events available, ensuring there's something for everyone. To enhance user experience, we'll introduce an in-app chat feature, allowing participants to get to know each other before events or coordinate details like bringing specific equipment to an activity.

We're also focusing on encouraging users to explore new horizons. By implementing a feature that suggests events outside users' stated interests, we aim to inspire them to try new experiences. Our advanced recommendation system, powered by reinforcement learning, will analyze users' past behavior and other factors to suggest events they're likely to enjoy.

To make the app even more convenient, we're working on calendar integration. Users will be able to connect their personal calendars to HobbyQuest, allowing our algorithm to automatically find free time slots for suggested events. This feature will streamline the process of finding and participating in activities that fit into busy student schedules.

As part of our business model, we plan to introduce carefully curated sponsored events, providing unique opportunities while generating revenue. For our most enthusiastic users, we'll offer a premium tier with additional benefits such as increased monthly event suggestions and access to exclusive events. We're also excited about new social features, such as allowing users to create private events for their friend groups within the app. To foster skill-sharing within the community, we'll implement a feature where users can host small workshops or classes to share their expertise with others.

Expanding beyond physical meetups, we're looking into incorporating virtual events for activities that can be done remotely, increasing accessibility and variety. We also plan to include opportunities for users to participate in local community service or charity events, fostering a sense of social responsibility. Lastly, we want to provide users with a sense of their HobbyQuest journey. We'll introduce personalized event summaries, offering monthly or quarterly recaps of users' event participation and suggesting new areas of interest based on their activities.

Built With

• html
• python