## Inspiration

In an increasingly virtual world, interaction at its core has begun to transform. Virtual communication has grown so common that it no longer pales in comparison to hanging out in person. In fact, the age of video calling has made it so that connectivity knows no more bounds, allowing relationships to stretch across space and time!

## What it does

We created a space that connects people in any and every way! Welcome to Roomy, where anyone from friends to family to classmates can spend quality time together as if they were right by each other. With music as a binding medium, soothing, exciting, and setting the atmosphere, our rooms are open to all. So come on in, it’s roomy in here!

## How we built it

React/Node.js frontend, Flask + Postgres backend, hosted on GCP (AppEngine) and AWS (RDS). Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator.

## Challenges we ran into

Working with these external APis was difficult; integrating Spotify and Zoom was already challenging, but every one of the individual widgets added extra layers of complexity. When we added live-updating, which we had never worked with before, it got very challenging, but we were able to deliver full functionality in all of those aspects.

## Accomplishments that we're proud of

Fully-functional! Try it out for yourself at <https://www.roomy-pennapps.space>. Be aware that some zoom accounts may not work due to account permissions.

## What we learned

APIs, live-updating web pages. Video editing and vector art.

## What's next for Roomy

Hang out with friends on Roomy!
## Inspiration

Studies show that drawing, coloring, and other art-making activities can help people express themselves artistically and explore their art's psychological and emotional undertones [1]. Before this project, many members of our team had already caught on to the stress-relieving capabilities of art-centered events, especially when they involved cooperative interaction. We realized that we could apply this concept in a virtual setting in order to make stress-relieving art events accessible to those who are homeschooled, socially-anxious, unable to purchase art materials, or otherwise unable to access these groups in real life. Furthermore, virtual reality provides an open sandbox suited exactly to the needs of a stressed person that wants to relieve their emotional buildup. Creating art in a therapeutic environment not only reduces stress, depression, and anxiety in teens and young adults, but it is also rooted in spiritual expression and analysis [2]. We envision an **online community where people can creatively express their feelings, find healing, and connect with others through the creative process of making art in Virtual Reality.**

## VIDEOS:

<https://youtu.be/QXY9UfquwNI>
<https://youtu.be/u-3l8vwXHvw>

## What it does

We built a VR application that **learns from the user's subjective survey responses** and then **connects them with a support group who might share some common interests and worries.** Within the virtual reality environment, they can **interact with others through anonymous avatars, see others' drawings in the same settings, and improve their well-being by interacting with others in a liberating environment.** To build the community outside of VR, there is an accompanying social media website allowing users to share their creative drawings with others.

## How we built it

* We used SteamVR with the HTC Vive HMD and Oculus HMD, as well as Unity to build the interactive environments and develop the softwares' functionality.
* The website was built with Firebase, Node.js, React, Redux, and Material UI.

## Challenges we ran into

* Displaying drawing real-time on a server-side, rather than client-side output posed a difficulty due to the restraints on broadcasting point-based cloud data through Photon. Within the timeframe of YHack, we were able to build the game that connects multiple players and allows them to see each other's avatars. We also encountered difficulties with some of the algorithmic costs of the original line-drawing methods we attempted to use.

## Citation:

[1] <https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/groups/art-therapy/connecticut/159921?sid=5db38c601a378&ref=2&tr=ResultsName>
[2] <https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/art-therapy>
## Inspiration

The inspiration for Roomo came when my older brother's friends were going off to big universities and didn't have roommates planned out. To find roommates, they generally looked through facebook groups, set up calls, or put themselves into some type of lottery. This process seemed liked it could be drastically improved, and I thought there should be a way for people to easily find and connect with college roommates based on common interests and preferences.

## What it does

Roomo is a website that enables people to first register a profile in which they list their roommate preferences, gender, university, personal description, as well as post a gallery of images. These users are then put grouped in the Roomo system based on these traits and have access to the profiles of other Roomo users in their university. They can then like or dismiss the profiles of other prospective roommates, and then when two people mutually like each others profiles a match is made. People then have the ability to message these matches directly through Roomo to connect with them. While not yet implemented, Roomo will have an algorithm that best matches people based on their preferences rather than just generating based on simple filtering. Roomo acts as the most efficient tool to find roommates in university.

## How I built it

To build Roomo, along with my teammate Michael Xing, I utilized the Django Rest Framework to develop the backend api for the site, the React javascript library for the frontend, and a simple SQLite database. I chose these tools because I have had experience using React and Django together before, and thus I thought that I could be most effective in this hackathon environment. The React frontend makes calls to the API to display and manipulate data for the user. Using React streamlines the development process, which enabled Roomo to be developed.

## Challenges I ran into

Throughout the development process, a key concept that proposed a challenge was being able to create the like, dismiss, match system. This required a development of a follow system as well as fairly significant logic to ensure that everything worked properly. I had to go through many iterations of this process to get it to a point that I was satisfied with.

## Accomplishments that I'm proud of

As this was my first experience with a hackathon, I am proud of having completed a piece of workable software, that was fairly substantial, in such a short timeframe. While I have built more complex and larger sites before, those took exponentially longer, and I feel that this process forced me to constantly think creatively about how to optimize each step of the process to produce a product that I was satisfied with. Additionally, the idea for Roomo is one that I have wanted to develop for a while, and so being able to see it work was certainly a moment of pride for me.

## What I learned

Throughout this process, I definitely learned a lot about team work, and the creative process as whole. In such a short time window, working with a team member requires constant communication and collaboration. The rate at which code has to be looked at and features have to be added was far greater than I was used to, which I believe helped me to increase my efficiency of communication as well as productivity as part of a team especially in a coding environment. Furthermore, coming up with the idea from scratch to a workable product required constant brainstorming and iterating which definitely helped me to become a quicker creative thinker and clearer decision maker.

## What's next for Roomo

In the future, I hope to develop Roomo as a mobile application as I think that that would be the ideal format for the product. Furthermore, I hope to develop the roommate matching algorithm as well as to improve the user interface.