Two Georgetown University seniors launched an AI app this summer, which they designed from scratch, to plan vacations based on user’s preferences. 

Justin Goldstein (CAS ’24) and Sang Doan (CAS ’24) released their app, Roamio, this summer. The app generates trip plans based on users’ travel preferences and can coordinate these plans by inviting other people within the app. 

Goldstein and Doan undertook the project in March 2023, with the app including features like automated recommendations and the option to create a custom travel itinerary. 

Doan said the idea for Roamio came after the pair experienced frustrations with other travel apps, like Google Maps, during a trip to California.

“We were caught in a storm because no one checked the weather,” Doan said to The Hoya. “Everyone expects everyone else to check the weather, find things to do, find restaurants. It would just be fantastic if you had an app that does that for you.”

Doan said platforms including Google Maps, Yelp and TripAdvisor create barriers for users by giving recommendations that the user has to manually filter through.

“We really just wanted to build something for ourselves,” Doan said. “Google Maps gives you a bunch of recommendations that are not at all personalized, and also not personalized to your whole group. It’s pretty unintuitive to save locations, schedule things — you can’t account for the weather with Google Maps, and it doesn’t know a lot of things about live events.”

The pair’s goal for Roamio is to solve this problem with other travel apps by synthesizing information from various sources to produce a detailed and personalized itinerary. Roamio aims to combine recommendations with real-time data, like weather and live events, into one interface for a simplified user experience. 

Doan said the real-time feature is the most invigorating part of the app. 

“When you plan on Roamio, it will watch the weather and traffic and live events around the area you’re traveling to in order to come up with some insights for you. You can specify which live events you want, say, sporting events, creative workshops, food tasting,” Doan said.

Roamio also invites users to input personal travel preferences, including budget and activities, to curate a personalized itinerary for their group.

Doan said the feature balances recommendations between the whole group’s preferences — not just one user. The use of generative AI systems — the same technology that powers apps like ChatGPT — is a central feature of the app, according to the pair. 

Roamio employs multiple AI tools that work together to generate recommendations based on the user’s input. One AI tool will come up with restaurants, while another offers outdoor activities to try. Doan and Goldstein were first exposed to these generative AI tools when they met at Georgetown InfoSense, an AI-research lab. 

Other features of Roamio include review summaries, where users can rate an experience within the app, and “Magic Swap,” a feature that allows the user to swap an activity out for a new recommendation if it doesn’t appeal to them. 

Doan said that Roamio’s target audience is younger travelers who are looking for a loose itinerary rather than a rigid schedule.

Jack Hospers (COL ’24), one of 30 Georgetown student users of Roamio, said he has already used the app to plan a trip to Manhattan.

“New York is so massive, and so I told the app to plan a trip for me in Manhattan,” Hospers told The Hoya. “I pretty much just followed it.”

Hospers’ trip took him to several locations in Manhattan, like Central Park, and also recommended a donut shop. The app was also able to track Hospers’ spending habits.

“It was also nice because I could track my costs, which I would just put in how much I spent at a restaurant,” Hospers said. “That’s a user choice, but it was nice to see how much I spent.”

Doan and Goldstein are currently full-time students but plan to continue developing Roamio. They recently unveiled new features in their latest update, including a map-based interface that allows users to discover sites based on proximity. They also plan to participate in pitch competitions like Bark Tank, an event held at Georgetown’s Entrepreneurship Summit, and Babson University’s Rocket Pitch.

Doan said he and Goldstein will continue with Roamio after they graduate from Georgetown.

“We are planning on working on Roamio full time after graduation,” Doan said. “And after Roamio, we don’t know.”

Jina Zhao contributed to reporting.