Chained

HTML
HTML cont
CSS
Python
Procfile

Inspiration

A study by Tulane’s University and many other organizations claim that loneliness caused by the pandemic has caused a sharp spike in depression and suicide rates across the world. Such information greatly alarmed us, and we wanted to create a tool that could help combat this terrible rise. From personal experience, one of the greatest impacts on life the quarantine had was the little amount of social interaction that we had with friends and families as we remained isolated. With this knowledge in mind, we set out to design an app that provided opportunities for its users to communicate with others not only in their country, but with people from around the globe. Even though we cannot talk to each other in person, this app can hopefully still act as a tool to connect our world.

What it does

Our web application, Chained, provides a solution that brings people together internationally by countering the language barrier using Google’s cloud translation API, which takes advantage of machine learning to instantly and accurately translate messages to and from two people across the world. Chained combines a unique, user friendly interface with quick and accurate translations to provide our users with a simple yet effective communication tool. Chained is extremely easy to use: The user initiates the app by typing in their name, the language they speak, and then the message they want to send. Our app then automatically connects the user with other people and allows them to chat in real-time.

How I built it

We started by making a basic chat room with optimized features so that it ran smoothly and quickly. Then, we used Google's translation API to have messages translated in real-time. We updated HTML during this process when necessary, then updated the CSS last. Finally, we tested it for bugs by sending different messages and using our features and smoothed out any issues.

Challenges I ran into

Some challenges we faced during the creation of Chained included inaccurate translations and delayed messages. We fixed both of these issues by testing multiple translation API’s and settling with Google’s cloud translation, which takes advantage of the cutting-edge innovations in machine translation as well as built-in security. In addition, we had issues transitioning from a local web server to hosting on Heroku, but our issues were solved by modifying our Procfile and using eventlet.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We are proud of being able to create a software that was able to quickly translate between languages while still remaining simple and easy to use. Furthermore, we're proud that we were able to utilize Google's advanced cloud translation, which greatly improved our app's capabilities. The app's function as a global connector is what we are most proud of, as the app is not only something that was fun to make and use, but also something that can benefit everyone who has access to the Internet.

What I learned

We learned a lot about coding in general, especially in terms of Flask and implementing translation APIs, and we received first-hand experience regarding testing different approaches to a problem in order to optimize our project. Additionally, we were able to better understand how different languages can act as a barrier to communication and how technology can help overcome those challenges. Finally, we learned that creating communication software can be difficult, and there are many challenges one must overcome and lessons to learn, but we were able to remain optimistic to get over the barriers.

What's next for Chained

In the future, we plan to have the program automatically detect the language the user is communicating in and have the app translate words from other languages into that specific user’s language. This will allow the app to be convenient and more efficient for both users. We also plan to create a filter that censors swear words that can be offensive to others. It can block out specific words in the sentence while keeping the rest of it readable, which will reduce the amount of trolls who want to harm others. In future versions, we hope to add more languages that can be translated using the program. This can allow more people to become connected around the world. We also plan to increase the accuracy of the translations, such as by allowing the app to detect typos, use language-specific grammar rules, avoid homonym errors, and more. Finally, we plan to increase the amount of users in a chat room so that more people can meet each other and talk. It allows users to feel connected with many others and improve understanding and collaboration with those of other countries and cultures.