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VU Amsterdam has more than 2000 study spots, spread out over the different buildings. Additionally, students may use education rooms that are not being used for education to study. Still, sometimes students are unable for find a spot to study. Not all study areas are equally well-known. The application PLEQ gives a clear overview of the study areas at the university and invites students to choose a study spot outside of their own faculty.
No only does PLEQ show how busy it is in a particular room; you can also check a picture of the room and other details to help you decide if a place is right for you. For instance, the app shows if there is daylight, if you can get a coffee and how other students have rated the room. Furthermore, you can share the location with your peers through WhatsApp to invite them to come study with you.
By popular demand of students
Students have been asking for a well-functioning app with available study areas for a longer time. There were some technical and privacy-related challenges. With PLEQ, these challenges have been tackled by using infrared scanners to monitor how many people walk in and out of a certain space. This allows the app to provide reliable information about the availability of study spots, without compromising the students' privacy.
The popularity of PLEQ became apparent shortly after in launch: social media posts about the app had very high engagement.
Students shared ideas about PLEQ
To create an app that met the needs of students, they were involved in several phases of the development. Students brought many creative and useful ideas to the table, including about the necessary details about study areas that were to be shown, and the button 'I am feeling lucky', which gives the user a recommendation of an available study area.
Development by a VU start-up
PLEQ was developed by the start-up Omnia, located on the Campus square. With the VU StartHub, the new entrepeneurs' pavilion of the campus, VU provides students, employees and VU alumni a place for inspiration and guidance to realise their business ideas. The collaboration between VU Amsterdam and Omnia in the development of PLEQ is a good example of this.