This past weekend I participated in a hackathon organized by the Government of Canada surrounding its Open Data initiative. I am enthusiastic about Open Data because it provides correct, free and consistent data that I can build upon, which is unlike most other apps I build.

I had been thinking about what sort of app I would make for awhile. I was quite positive that I wanted to do something related to Quantified Self because that is something I’m interested in right now. When the theme of solving problems and improving productivity was announced; I decided that I wanted to tackle the problem of congestion on our roadways.

I think the major contributor to congestion is just people commuting to work. Especially people by themselves in a car. My idea was to provide personalized feedback and show how much money, time, and environmental impact you cause by doing that. The Open Data was critical because I was able to get data points for specific cars that users would drive.

The UI was fun to make up. I think I discovered a clever little hack which made my life a lot easier. First, I asked the user to specify the start of their trip (probably home) and the destination (probably work). Then I made a call to Google Maps to pull up directions between those two places. It may not be the exact path they take to work, but it would be close.

From there I calculate the impact. I thought the most interesting one was the CO₂ emissions. Usually you just get a number, but hearing a number is meaningless. I translated that number into a measure of garbage trucks. It alludes to the fact that you are generating garbage, and makes the result easier to comprehend.

I’ve published A Healthier Commute on Google Play so you should check it out if you haven’t yet!

Posted by Kevin in Blogs Tags: android, quantifiedself