The goal was to create an app that would improve accessibility to newcomers or visitors to Calgary – and the winning app literally helps people as they step off the airplane.
The Advil Buddies team took home the top prize of $3,000 at the YYC Hacks 2024 hackathon competition, which was held at Bow Valley College over the weekend.
Their program YYC Scan simply puts a QR code at the airport as guests leave the plane and users can download and access the content.
“The experience of the whole app is basically just giving information to the visitors and newcomers or what services are available, and at the same time, giving them the events, restaurants that are available,” said Advil Buddies spokesperson, Marybeth Sato.
“The difference between the current or the existing apps, or similar apps, is that we try to gamify the whole experience, so you could earn points. If ever you go to a restaurant, you can earn points, and then you could redeem those points as discounts.”
The tool also has an AI chatbot so that users can ask questions about Calgary. The information is available in 11 languages, too.
YYC Hacks 2024 hackathon organizer Serene Yew, who is a software developer and CEO of Calgary-based software consulting firm, Pixeltree, said she hoped participants gained more from the event than just a win.
“I hope that they all made connections, friends and were inspired to live and grow in Calgary’s tech community,” Yew said.
“I hope they learned that they’re stronger than they thought they were.”
That they did. Sato said she almost gave up. She said she’s functioning on two hours of sleep and hasn’t really eaten. But, they’re hackathon vets (winning a SAIT hackathon previously) and she knew they could pull through.
“It really was able to test my limits,” Sato said.
Biz community support
Yew said she – and the participants – were thrilled to have Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek, Calgary Economic Development president and CEO and CEO of the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund, which supported the event, Brad Parry, and Calgary Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Deborah Yedlin out to support the work they were doing.
Parry said these investments are critical for them to make.
“These kinds of events help people understand how to solve big challenges. Because again, if you think about the vision for the city, it’s about solving global challenges with the best minds, brightest minds and big ideas,” he said.
Parry also said that more often we’re starting to see those big ideas being turned around in less time, with fewer people.
“As we get ahead of that curve and understand that we solve those problems with the technologies, it just sends a message to the rest of the world saying, ‘hey, there’s some really cool stuff happening in Calgary and we should be part of that,’” he said.
Sato and her team liked the idea they came up with enough to toy with the idea of turning it into more than just a hackathon winner. They’re thinking of bringing the product to market. For now, however, they’re just going to enjoy the win – and the $3,000 prize.
“We’re just going to divide it equally, actually,” she said.
“We wanted to eat Korean barbecue, so that’s what we’re going for right now after this.”
- With files from Aryn Toombs
