Mycelius

Mycelius connects people through shared interests, from music and games to careers, using AI smart matching and gamified quick chats to spark real friendships in your local community.

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Inspiration

We wanted to make an app that people could use to connect with new friends through a fun and colorful interface, centered on silly chat games unique to our app. Mycelius tries to help people get over the "first encounter", by using AI matchmaking and letting conversation flow in a guided gamified format.

What it does

Mycelius is a speedfriending web app that connects users through shared interests, hobbies, and goals. By integrating APIs like Spotify, Steam, and Trakt, it automatically finds common ground between users and matches them for short, meaningful conversations in a casual, non-romantic setting. There are many different functions, such as a default chat app and friends function, +15 games, and and leaderboard between friends.

How we built it

We built Mycelius using React + Tailwind for the frontend, Node.js for backend logic, and Firebase/Supabase for user authentication and data storage. OAuth integrations with Spotify, Steam, and Trakt pull users’ favorite music, games, and shows to generate personalized interest profiles.

Challenges we ran into

Balancing real-time chat with data persistence was tricky, especially when syncing friend lists between sessions. Integrating multiple third-party APIs and managing OAuth tokens also required careful handling to maintain user privacy and smooth onboarding. UI UX design, fixing padding issues, designing the best way for each page to display, also took a significant amount of time.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We built a working prototype that matches users based on shared interests, supports quick chats, and stores their data locally for persistent sessions. We also created a friendly UI flow that makes social connection feel natural instead of forced. We also think our game animations are pretty cool!

What we learned

We learned how to combine third-party APIs, authentication systems, and real-time communication into one cohesive experience. We also were able to smoothly integrate AI for chatting, but also sentiment analysis and summary comparison. We also discovered how design and small interaction details can make a huge difference in encouraging people to connect authentically.

What's next for Mycelius

We plan to expand Mycelius with full profile customization, gamified streaks and badges, and deeper integration with new APIs like Strava for fitness and Goodreads for reading. We also believe that Mycelius would reach its full potential if it could connect across more communities, allowing people to search broader for like-minded individuals. Long term, we want to evolve it into a full cross-platform app, perhaps a friendly alternative to LinkedIn or Discord focused purely on meaningful human connection.

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