uKnoWHere

!RSTLNE0 keyboard
Game start & Unique UI/UX
Solving puzzle
Game end!

Inspiration

I have been trying to invent a NEW unique user experience for using Google Maps. uKnoWHere feature a unique keyboard layout during gameplay. Inspired by Wheel of Fortune, I called this keyboard layout with a scoring system: !RSTLNE0. In Wheel of Fortune, the letters R S T L N E are always given to the players for the final puzzle.

uKnoWHere also features a unique responsive minimalist layout with an on-screen keyboard. Elements are placed strategically both on/off the map canvas. The on-screen keyboard ensures that players can use the default Google Maps keyboard shortcuts for map explorations with the off-screen keyboard instead, giving an alternate option for better controls.

I hope that !RSTLNE0 keyboard layout and this responsive minimalist layout with an on-screen keyboard will give rise to a better unique idea and map experience.

What it does

The problem I am trying to solve here is that people do not know their "here and where" well enough to be able to use it to their advantage to optimize their lives. This app challenges/helps you to know here, know where, know your location, know your surroundings, know where you are, know where you can go, know your places of interest, know your "anywhere everywhere", goddamn well at the end of playing too much.

How I built it

Challenges I ran into

Players can get the answers to the puzzle by accessing the network response of place API. If they do it, there will not be fun in the process of guessing the place. However, they will still gain knowledge about the place.

Accomplishments that I am proud of

I invented a new keyboard called !RSTLNE0 which might give rise to a better unique idea and map experience next time. I am using some of the latest web technologies to build this app.

What I learned

It is not easy to build an app solo as I need to do everything myself and there is less fun in doing so. Team matters. Influx of different perspective might actually make the app better.

What's next for uKnoWHere

I hope this can be a starting point to help Google Maps Team improve the accuracy and usefulness of the Place API. Players can use existing Google Maps "Report a map error" to report puzzles that are unsolvable, indirectly enhancing the validity of the Place API and helping it stay current and useful. For future enhancement, analytics of players' gameplay can help us understand whether the existing Place APIs' output is useful and valid.