What can a single developer pull together with a handful of APIs, a creative mind and a touch of tongue-in-check? Yes, it’s the Traveling Gnome (not the roaming kind!).
Developer Alexey Abolmasov, a Belarussian now living in Thailand where he works for a company called 12Go.Asia, pulled together what was essentially a fun way of showcasing places to go to users with a touch of product and communication thrown in for good measure.
Using the Expedia Affiliate Network (hotels), Vayant (flights) and Hoiio (SMS/voice alerts), Traveling Gnome automates travel scenarios for people that have an rough idea of where they want go and budget, but with nothing planned.
Here is the presentation deck from Traveling Gnome:
Traveling Gnome won a highly commended award from the judges.
Chair of the panel (alongside Professor Adrian David Cheok, Keio University Graduate School of Media Design in Japan, and Arun Lee, head of technology and innovation, AirAsia), Valyn Perini, CEO of the OpenTravel Alliance, says:
“This was a really creative hack and it was very impressive that the idea was formed and built by one person. On the one hand it was a total time waster, just giving people ideas, but it could also be an attractive feature to an existing site.”
Other hacks presented at the event:
PropertyHub (by Martin Rusteberg and team)
Acme Travel Companion (Jeppesen team)
TripEvents (Tripconomics team)
FareHound (Hoiio team)
MakeMyTravelTimeline (MakeMyTrip team)
NB: Each of the teams taking part presented live on-stage at THack @ Singapore as well as performing live demos to the judging panel at the event.
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