Gather Point

Swan Hacks 2025 Hackathon Submission

Gather Point is a community-driven platform that helps people discover local events, connect with friends, and build meaningful relationships in their area. Built with modern web technologies (and powered by AI?), Gather Point makes it easy to find like-minded individuals and create experiences together.

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Features

Interactive 3D Map

• Explore events and communities on an interactive 3D map powered by Cesium
• Visualize event locations with custom markers for different event categories
• Navigate and discover events happening in your area

Event Management

• Create Events: Organize community events with details like name, description, category, location, and date/time
• Search & Filter:
  • Search events by name across the entire database
  • Filter by categories
  • Filter by date range
• WIP AI-Powered Event Discovery: Use Google Gemini AI to search the web for volunteer events and community activities in your area
  • Automatically populate event details from AI search results
  • Edit and customize AI-discovered events before adding them to your database

Social Features

• Friends System:
  • Search for users and send friend requests
• Real-time Messaging:
  • Chat with friends in real-time
• Privacy Controls:
  • Public accounts: Anyone can view your profile and message you
  • Private accounts: Only friends can view your profile and message you

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Tech Stack

Frontend

• Next.js - React framework with App Router
• TypeScript - Type-safe development
• Tailwind CSS - Utility-first styling
• Radix UI - Accessible component library
• Framer Motion - Smooth animations
• Lucide React - Icon library
• Shadcn - Component Library

Backend & Database

• Firebase - Authentication, Firestore database, and storage

Maps & 3D Visualization

• Cesium - 3D globe and map visualization
• Resium - React bindings for Cesium

AI Integration (WIP)

• Google Gemini API - AI-powered event search and discovery
• @google/genai - Official Gemini SDK

Additional Tools

• Nominatim (OpenStreetMap) - Geocoding and address autocomplete
• React Day Picker - Date selection components

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20 or later
• npm or yarn
• Firebase project with Firestore enabled
• Google Gemini API key (for AI event search)

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/SwanHacks2025/2025-swan-hacks.git cd 2025-swan-hacks

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Set up environment variables

   Create a .env.local file in the root directory:

   # Firebase Configuration
   NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_FIREBASE_API_KEY=your_firebase_api_key
   NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_FIREBASE_AUTH_DOMAIN=your_auth_domain
   NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=your_project_id
   NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_FIREBASE_STORAGE_BUCKET=your_storage_bucket
   NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_FIREBASE_MESSAGING_SENDER_ID=your_sender_id
   NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_FIREBASE_APP_ID=your_app_id
   NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_FIREBASE_MEASUREMENT_ID=your_measurement_id
   
    # Google Maps API (for Cesium)
    NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY=your_google_maps_key

   # Cesium Ion Token
    NEXT_PUBLIC_CESIUM_ION_TOKEN=your_cesium_token

   # Gemini AI API
    NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_GEMINI_KEY=your_gemini_api_key

4. Run the development server npm run dev

5. Open your browser Navigate to http://localhost:3000

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