G'day Queensland

 

I. Project Overview

G’day Queensland is a mobile web-app that is targeted at tourists visiting Queensland in 2018 for the Commonwealth Games. However it is also designed to be a useful web-app for locals as well.

1. Why did we choose to build it?

We could definitely see the need for the Gold Coast to provide assistance to visitors. Being in a foreign country can make navigating around and finding things to do difficult, so there’s a clear opportunity there to make use of modern technology to make visiting Queensland a fun and enjoyable experience.

We also spent time going through various Data Sets available and felt that there were some cool methods we could use to present the data.

2. What does it do?

G’day QLD (Queensland) allows the user to select their language from a list of provided languages. (Due to time constraints, we’ve only included Chinese in our prototype, but the idea is that many other languages would be supported). After selecting their language they’re able to view the Commonwealth Games events, some local Gold Coast free events, and learn some Aussie phrases.

3. Who is it for?

The core audience for G’day QLD are tourists visiting the Gold Coast in 2018, from home and abroad. Our app targets primarily at non-English speakers - not only international visitors such as Chinese, Japanese, French and so on, but also our local commonwealth neighbors that speak Sinhalese, Polynesian and interstate indigenous languages. With built-in translation, the app makes life easier for those who are new to the place, and adds the feel of familiarity. Imagine this is your first time visiting the city, and English is not your strength, it could be tricky or even overwhelming to try and seek out information using multiple apps (for example using a translation app, a navigation app, and many more all together, in another language). Combining information of events, navigation guidance, and language help, the app addresses the issue and simplifies things for the users.

We also designed the app with locals in mind. Needless to say, a great number of locals will be travelling to and from the Games, and they will find the app informative and handy. For example, there are a lot of free events taking place each week throughout the Gold Coast, however chances are the locals might not even be aware of them. With the app, the locals can easily view upcoming local events, and participate in the ones that interest them, having fun with their family and friends.

 

II. Data Usage

1. Gold Coast Active Healthy

https://www.data.gov.au/dataset/gold-coast-active-healthy

1.1 Why did we use this data?

We realised that there was a great opportunity to incorporate healthy and free Gold Coast events into the app to compliment the Commonwealth Games events. This would allow visitors to explore some other activities they could take part in and provide a great opportunity for them to connect with the local community. It also meant that locals would have a bonus reason to use the app, as it would expose them to events they might not have even been aware of.

1.2 How did we use this data?

The data is in the form of an RSS feed containing a list of upcoming events. For the G’day QLD prototype we’ve built, we grabbed the upcoming events from the feed and converted them to a JSON format to be consumed within the app. You can see the data within our Github repo here: https://github.com/simonghales/gday-queensland/blob/master/src/data/freeEvents.js

The data is then converted to the list of events displayed on the events page under the free tab. They are also displayed as markers on the map which can be interacted with. https://simonghales.github.io/gday-queensland/#/events

2. Commonwealth Games Venue Locations

2.1 Why did we use this data?

We wanted to display on a map the list of venues to allow users to have a look at the various venues and see which events would be taking place there. That way they could decide what venues they wanted to attend, view the distance between them, and plan their journey.

2.2 How did we use this data?

The data was in an CSV format which was converted to JSON to be used within the app.

You can view the data within our Github repo. https://github.com/simonghales/gday-queensland/blob/master/src/data/venues.js

This data was translated into Google Maps markers, visible on the events page in the games tab in the map at the top of the page. https://simonghales.github.io/gday-queensland/#/events

These markers can be interacted with.

3. Commonwealth Games Gold Coast 2018 Website

3.1 Why did we use this data?

We wanted to ensure that the user would be able to see the upcoming events from within our app, as well as have the ability to plan a journey and get directions to each event.

3.2 How did we use this data?

We had to scrape the data from the website. To do this we extracted the HTML containing the events and used jQuery to convert that to a JSON format. You can check out the code we wrote to do so here: https://codepen.io/simonghales/pen/GvpVKL?editors=1012

These events are displayed as a list on the events page under the games tab. https://simonghales.github.io/gday-queensland/#/events

Due to time constraints we did not scrape all of the events.

 

III. Prizes Overview

1. Best 2018 Commonwealth Games Solution

Challenge Outline:

Best solution to solve a problem related to the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The solution should have longevity beyond the Games period.

G’day QLD addresses the issue of tourists visiting the Gold Coast, who might not be so comfortable with English (or might not even speak it). The app provides them with the ability to view relevant information in their own language, get directions and view events. The app has longevity beyond the Games period due to the fact that it incorporates non-games events, alongside additional information to learn some Aussie phrases that will benefit tourists at any time.

2. Best use of Gold Coast Data

Challenge Outline:

Use Gold Coast data in an interesting and useful way.

G’day QLD incorporates some of the local health and free events into the app to help expose both visitors and locals to the events around them that they can attend.

3. Maroon Hack 2 - Commonwealth Games - Accessibility for Tourism

Challenge Outline:

The best entries that supports tourism in and around Queensland in the lead up, during and following the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Extra merit for facilitating non-english speaking visitors and tourists.

G’day QLD addresses the issue of tourists visiting the Gold Coast, who might not be so comfortable with English (or might not even speak it). The app provides them with the ability to view relevant information in their own language, get directions and view events. The app has longevity beyond the Games period due to the fact that it incorporates non-games events, alongside additional information to learn some Aussie phrases that will benefit tourists at any time.

IV. Future Potential

Obviously GovHack is all about hacking something together over the weekend whilst working within the time constraints. We’re proud of our proof-of-concept but we also had many other ideas we had hoped to implement but were unable due to running out of time.

These were some of our initial ideas / plans:

• Utilise Google’s Translate API to integrate translation features directly into the app.

• Demonstrate more language examples within the app.

• Integrate other types of events, particularly from areas close to the Gold Coast, i.e. Brisbane. The app is called G’day Queensland as we felt there was no reason to limit it to the Gold Coast.

• More in-depth navigation controls and results.

• The ability to set locations such as ‘hotel’, which will then be used to base trips off.

• The ability to construct a schedule, by lining up various events in one day, and having the times and locations listed out.

The ideas presented above are definitely all achievable. We hope what we have put together is sufficient to give a good sense of the potential of an app such as ours.