Sandspace

How did you come up with the idea for Sandspace?

While quarantined, the team, disappointed with the current situation, was concerned about their holidays. Amidst one of their online hangouts, the members realized that going to the beaches would become a lot harder, due to the max capacity set by the government- and this idea was born.

How did you go about developing the solution?

The initial code was written over a week, since the team already possessed some coding skills. After overcoming some difficulties publishing the app onto PlayStore, on May 21, the first release was globally available. Always looking to improve the solution for end-users, the team has been attentive to feedback and already delivered its 4th release.

How does Sandspace work?

"Based on Citizen Science principles, this app allows users to be active in content creating, by collecting their perceptions regarding a beach’s occupation level. Initially, the app takes the user to a map, where he can see points that, relying on a traffic-light(ish) colour system, indicate the levels of occupation throughout the coastline set by other users in the past 2 hours. The number of Portuguese beaches referenced is now 685 (oceanic and river beaches and natural pools)."

Why should your product win its category and why should people vote for you in the People’s Choice Award?

At first, the idea was to prevent beaches from closing and to spread their occupation along the coastline. But rapidly, it became much more, being a great tool in fighting the pandemic, assuring a comfortable day with free space for your sun umbrella. Its aid in public health goes beyond: it now supports the feature to warn about other dangers, such as bacteria or deadly jellyfish on the ocean. In resume, this application is indeed helping families and friends to organize their day at the beach, as intended at the beginning. But, at the end, it has a big impact on people health – both physical and mental – which are so important during this difficult context. We believe that the benefits provided by the usage of this app will be long-term, because it allows people to go to the beach on a safe way, either during a pandemic period or even all year long, thanks to the danger alerts.