A couple weeks ago, the Application Development Initiative at Columbia, also known as ADi, held a DevFest, where student teams designed and created prototypes of Internet products.
Unsurprisingly, many of them were food-related---here are some of my favorites:
Dining View: A website that checks the crowd density at each of the dining halls at CU and Barnard, mapping the rate entry with data from the swipe counter. It also displays alternative dining options (like Chipotle, Milano, etc.) and can send/receive text messages that inform which venue would be convenient and when.
Columbia Swipe Exchange: Easily the most popular app for anyone who has had issues with their meal swipes, or lack thereof. This app allows a person to exchange a meal swipe with someone. The user can choose a venue, and keep a record of swipes “transacted.” In order to avoid legal hassles, the system has not yet been monetized. As of right now, the system works like this: the user finds local swipes and cheap swipes by text message, meets the seller at the venue to get swiped in, and exchanges payments then.
Discenza Trattoria: An app that allows you to register a table with infrared counters. Mostly for use by the restaurant side, it keeps track of the number of visits per customer and even the number of people accompanying the customer.
