Resonator allows users to discover their compatibility with friends
Prince Nimoh, a first-year electrical engineering and physics student at the University of Ottawa, believes that the best way to learn is to make something—at least, that’s what he has to say about his new app, Resonator.
The app’s premise is simple: Android users complete “Matchups,” which are image-based preferential multiple-choice questions, or quizzes. The app then computes how many of the completed Matchups a user has in common with other users, and presents it as a percentage.
Current features include a ranked list of all other users in the system, comparison of your choices to other users, a percentage of how much you have in common with all other users, and the option to create your own Matchups. Nimoh has additional features in mind, but for now is focused on building his user base.
Instead of producing perfect matches like many applications currently on the market, Resonator uses a unique algorithm to calculate the percentage of similarity, or what Nimoh likes to call resonance.
“There isn’t a match per say, it’s not like Tinder. You have a percentage match rate which is a calculation, of what I like to call resonance, for all other users in the system, which are then ranked in decreasing order,” he explained.
Nimoh started as a curious programmer, diving into web development and programming languages like PHP. His experience gave him the idea of doing a text-based preference question website, but soon realized images would make it more engaging and the mobile market was a better fit.
He moved to Android and used his idea as a way to learn the environment. Development truly took off when Nimoh thought, “if I’m going to do this, I might as well do it well.” Four months later, Resonator was completed.
As of now, Resonator does not host an integrated messaging system, however users can link their Facebook profile to the app. Nimoh’s reasoning for excluding such a feature is a desire for sincere connections. “I want people to value the communication; with all the other apps and sites, it’s so easy to message someone it doesn’t make it meaningful,” he said.
As for future plans for the app, Nimoh says the focus right now is not money. “I just want people to use it first and foremost, eventually if user base grows but right now, the money is not the goal.”
The app is currently available to download at the Google Play store.
