VirtualPals

Inspiration

We decided to focus on track one which involved aging in place with resilience and resources. Our group decided that the biggest impact quarantine and isolation had was on the elderly and COVID-19 patients. Elderly people were not able to properly communicate with their family due to their lack of technology knowledge. Our app was created such that elderly people would be able to communicate with not only their family and friends, but also, be able to meet new people who have similar interests while engaging and learning how to use modern technology.

What it does

Our app essentially lets users write and send letters to their friends. Furthermore, users are able to add friends based on a keyword or their name.

How we built it

We built a prototype of this app by using Invision to add functions to each page. Also, we used Canva to create each page of the app.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was finding an application that would allow us to collaborate and edit the project together. Also, it was difficult understanding how to use Invision and figuring out the differences between a prototype that we were creating and an actual app. Another challenge we had was making the app as simple as possible for elderly people to use. We tried to make as many pages as possible and larger font size so it would be friendlier to elderly people.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The entire prototype was an accomplishment. We're all very proud of the prototype and hopefully, it can become a real thing in the future.

What we learned

The biggest take-away from this project was that making resources available for the most vulnerable in society is important. Quarantine has showed me that the people who suffer the most during these times are the elderly and people in care homes. They're isolated during this time so having resources made available to them is important. One of the most important things during quarantine is being able to communicate and connect with people in a safe way. Our app helps to connect elderly with their families or friends and help them communicate safely and effectively.

What's next for VirtualPals

Hopefully, this prototype will become an actual app. We would start to expand it and add more stickers and extra features (such as video chat and in-app games).

Built With

canva
invision

Submitted to

MedHacks

Created by

I contributed a basic rough sketch of how the pages should be set up. Also, I made the app pages using canva and helped add functions to the pages on invision. Finally, I completed the written part of the devpost.

Yasmin Modarai
- brainstormed with team members
- created several pages on Canva
- added functions to certain pages using InVision
- screen recorded the demo
- wrote part of the script for the video submission

Helen Li
I ensured the functions within Invision ran smoothly and made changes if they did not and I contributed my ideas to the team. I also organized our virtual meetings, input possible problems, challenges, or roadblocks our team might have with proposed ideas, co-wrote the script for the video, and edited our final video.

Soh-Hyun Hur
I contributed ideas on how the app should function and what should be included. Majority of my efforts went into designing the app pages using Canva. I designed the app icon and wrote up the citation page. I added a few functions through invision.

Madiha Anjum