Advocate: Michael Peter
Project description: An application allowing users near each other to form chat groups based around currently occurring events and activities. When creating a chat, a topic is selected (e.g. “VT v. UVA Football Game”), a GPS pin is dropped on a map to represent the center of the chat, and a radius is chosen within which other users are allowed to join. The idea is to create a platform for meaningful discussion with the people around us, and allow users to share their opinions with all those who are in attendance at the event. This idea could go in a number of directions, and serve a number of purposes. Crowds would be able to weigh in on the quality of calls at sporting events, students in classrooms could gauge their understanding of the material in comparison to the class as a whole, coworkers could easily announce that there are donuts in the break room. The use cases are broad, and the design will be narrowed down according to the interests of the development group. I think this will be a blast to work on, and allow us to fully utilize our common HCI skills while picking up some new stuff along the way.