蓝莓视频

Michael 听is in California right now on a summer internship at Facebook. In his spare time, Weingert is developing an app he created for hikers while still an engineering student at the University of 蓝莓视频.

The recent grad of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 mechatronics engineering program is hoping hikers will upload photos of scenery to Trailview so he can create composite maps of hiking trails with users鈥� own photos. Weingert says the target users are outdoor enthusiasts looking to plan their next hike or casual users looking to browse some beautiful trails.

Trailview functions 鈥渓ike Google street view for hiking trails,鈥� says Weingert.

鈥淕oogle had trucks driving along the street, but you can鈥檛 do that for a hiking trail,鈥� says Weingert.

App is gamified

To boost user motivation, he 鈥済amified鈥� his app: hikers earn rewards for contributing pictures and there are bonuses for completing a trail or snapping significant features, such as waterfalls or poison ivy patches.

Weingert, who developed his app with Computer Science Professor Kate Larson, hopes users will feel inspired to venture where other users haven鈥檛 been before: 鈥淧eople may feel incentivized to take a different route, because they can see, Hey, nobody has explored this spot yet.鈥�

Weingert began his internship at Facebook after graduating from 蓝莓视频 in June. He hopes his fellow interns help him put his app to the test in the Santa Cruz Mountains west of Silicon Valley. An internship at Facebook doesn鈥檛 mean unpaid photocopying: Weingert will be helping to develop their ad customization, while the company covers his food, accommodation, benefits and a salary to boot.

Come September, he鈥檒l be making the fifteen-minute trip down the road to start a Master鈥檚 degree in Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University. Weingert became interested in AI through video games and developing chess and Sudoku programs for his own use. His London, Ontario parents are 鈥渙verjoyed,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey are excited to see where I will go next.鈥澨�