My Experience at the ASU Hackathon: Building TravelChain
In March 2024, I participated in the ASUxSUI Hackathon, an exhilarating 48-hour event that brought together developers, designers, and innovators. The challenge was to create a project that could make a meaningful impact, and I decided to build TravelChain, a decentralized application for logging and sharing travel experiences using blockchain technology.
Overview of TravelChain
TravelChain allows users to store and visualize their travel memories securely. The application extracts GPS metadata from photos, enabling users to create a rich, interactive map of their journeys. The project was developed on the Polygon network, ensuring secure and decentralized storage of travel memories.
Key Features
- GPS Metadata Extraction: Automatically extracts location data from uploaded photos.
- Interactive Map Interface: Users can visualize their travels on a map powered by the Mapbox API.
- Blockchain Storage: Travel memories are securely stored on the Polygon network, ensuring data integrity and security.
- Firebase Integration: Temporary image storage for seamless user experience.
Development Highlights
The hackathon was a whirlwind of coding, collaboration, and creativity. I utilized smart contracts to manage the storage of travel memories and integrated a frontend that allowed users to upload photos and view their travel history. The experience taught me the importance of teamwork and rapid prototyping, as we had to iterate quickly to meet the deadline.
Overall, the ASU Hackathon was an incredible experience that not only challenged my technical skills but also allowed me to connect with like-minded individuals passionate about technology and innovation. I look forward to participating in more hackathons in the future!
You can check out the TravelChain project on GitHub or visit the project page here.