twiki
Inspiration and Target Users
The idea behind twiki came to us when we were trying to create a product that had potential for positive change (aligning with the DeltaHacks theme). We wanted to make a service that allowed people to grab specific information about a topic of interest without internet access.
Originally, we were going to create an SMS-based medical information service for individuals around the world who do not have the ability to talk to a doctor or access to relevant medical information, but as we began implementing the relevant code, we decided to give the users the freedom to learn about anything that interests them without the need for internet.
With the millions of people on the planet who don't have the ability to learn, twiki provides this information in an easy and accessible way.
Key Features
- Twilio: We set up an account on Twilio which allows us to have a phone number to and from which all Wikipedia queries can be sent and received.
- Wikipedia: We used the MediaWiki API for search queries.
- Heroku: Our application is hosted on a Heroku server with automated Maven builds.
Contributors
Jay Elenis - University of Guelph, Engineering
Brian McCrindle - McMaster University, Engineering
Stefan Pleava - University of Waterloo, Engineering
Ian Waudby-Smith - University of Waterloo, Mathematics