Romo Telepresence
Teammates: Phu Nguyen and Ray Morgan
There's really no subsitute for face to face interaction, but I believe Romo Telepresence is the next best thing. Romo owners can invite anyone from anywhere in the world to call into and control their Romo. Whether two people are separated by distance or immobility, Romo connects them as a cute, expressive, and dynamic proxy.
One of the main interactions we focused on was the one between kids and their older relatives. Kids like to run around and play on the floor (think back to your LEGOs and train sets). It's unreasonable to have them sit still at a table in front of a laptop or keep a phone pointed at their faces. Kids don't want to just talk to you--they want to play with you, too. Romo is perfect for this kid-centric interaction--he's already low to the ground, quick, and easy to control. Not only can he run around, he can also convey your emotions. To see what I mean, check out this video of Charlie and his grandma using Romo Telepresence to be together.
I learned a lot about software engineering while working on this project as this was the first large-scale web app that I built from scratch. I got my first taste of distributed systems, Node, WebSockets, and the challenges of launching an app to an international audience. As a result, I also learned to love JavaScript and became extremely comfortable with callbacks. Phu taught me what a full stack looks like, and Ray taught me how to architect a reliable, scalable system.
You can check it out here.
Built with: Node.js, WebSockets, OpenTok, and Redis