Inspiration
Increasing crime in the city, public shootings in the country and an overall concern for public safety
What it does
Safe Travels is an Android/iOS app which gathers and organizes all the crime in Philadelphia and provides you the best tools to analyze your surrounding so that you and your loved ones can make safe decisions.
In this hackathon, we are implementing several features that will make Safe Travels not just an app to analyze crime, but a platform for people to connect and help others stay safe. Some of the features include:
- User registration and authentication so that you can customize your preferences
- Cloud integration using Google Firebase so that you can connect with other users
- Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) that allows you to get notifications of an alert/event such as an active shooter in the area
- Smart Safety Tips that alert you when you are in an unsafe area or going through an area at an unsafe time. The tips will be generated by analyzing historical crime data and identifying crime-based patterns
- Fire Hydrant Locations markers dropped on the map and their current status
How we built it
- Java/Android-Studio to build the Android version and Swift/XCode to build the iOS version
- Google Maps API to display the Map and Firebase for cloud integration and user authentication
- Google's Material Design guidelines for beautiful User Interface and User Experience
Challenges we ran into
Some of the challenges include:
- Integrating Firebase and their cloud messaging platform to invoke notifications
- Creating material design components for iOS because they are not natively supported
- Working with poorly documented APIs and libraries
Accomplishments that we're proud of
- We are making really good progress on the features that we plan on implementing and we believe that we will have those features working just as expected by the end of the hackathon
What we learned
- How to integrate cloud and set up alerts and push notifications
- Create custom UI elements and implement it to allow a smooth user experience
What's next for Safe Travels
We believe Safe Travels has a lot of potential to become a platform that people use every day to be aware of their surroundings and make safe decisions. Universities can use Safe Travels to analyze where to put the security officers. Students can use it to determine which streets to avoid at certain times. Home buyers can use it to determine which areas to avoid. Commuters can use it to know whether to park a car in a certain area or not. The possibilities are endless.
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