EcoKitty

landing page on pc
UPC recognition
leaderboard!

Inspiration

We were inspired to create Eco Kitty by the pressing need to educate children about environmental issues in an engaging and accessible way. We realized that many kids are naturally curious about nature and the world around them, but often find traditional environmental education boring or difficult to understand. We wanted to harness the power of modern technology to make sustainability fun and interactive, hoping to nurture a generation of eco-conscious individuals from an early age.

What it does

Eco Kitty is an interactive educational app that makes learning about sustainability and environmental consciousness fun for children. It features an AI-powered chat assistant called the Eco-Buddy, which provides eco-tips and answers questions about the environment. The app's innovative recycling scanner allows kids to use their device's camera to identify recyclable items and learn proper disposal methods. To help children understand their environmental impact, Eco Kitty includes a leaderboard system that fosters some healthy competition between family members to adapt to eco-friendly habits. The app also incorporates gamification through daily eco-friendly quests, challenging users to develop sustainable habits. By combining these engaging features, Eco Kitty aims to nurture environmentally responsible behaviors in young learners, making complex environmental concepts accessible and exciting.

How we built it

We built Eco Kitty using a modern tech stack centered around Next.js 14 with TypeScript. The frontend was developed using React components styled with Tailwind CSS for a clean, responsive design. We leveraged Next.js API routes for our backend logic, which helped streamline our development process. Supabase served as our database and authentication solution, providing a robust and scalable foundation. The AI chat feature was powered by the OpenAI API, while we used Zxing and Cheerio for UTC code recognition as well web scraping public data to find products

Challenges we ran into

Making Eco Kitty was fun but tough. We wanted to teach kids about the environment in a way that was both correct and easy to understand. It was hard to explain big ideas in simple words without losing important details. The AI chat part was tricky too. We had to make sure it talked to kids in a friendly way and taught them the right things. We spent a lot of time making the AI say just the right things and adding ways to keep it safe for kids. Another big problem was using lots of different computer tools to build our app. Many of these tools had old or confusing instructions. This made it really frustrating to figure out how to use them. But we didn't give up! We looked everywhere for help - in the official guides, on forums where other coders talk, and even in other people's projects that used similar tools. We had to put together bits of information from all these places, which was like solving a big puzzle. This made us think in new ways and come up with clever solutions to make Eco Kitty work better. We learned that being able to adapt and find new ways to solve problems is super important when making apps. In the end, the hard parts helped us make Eco Kitty even cooler than we first imagined.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're incredibly proud of what we've accomplished with Eco Kitty. Our biggest achievement was creating an app that makes complex environmental concepts accessible and engaging for children. Along the way, we significantly expanded our technical skills. We dove deep into Next.js 14, mastering its new App Router and strengthening our TypeScript expertise. Integrating various APIs, including OpenAI for our AI chat feature and image recognition services for our recycling scanner, pushed us to learn rapidly and adapt to new technologies. We overcame challenges with outdated documentation by collaborating and finding creative solutions, which not only solved our immediate problems but also deepened our understanding of API integration. The project also allowed us to refine our skills in React, Tailwind CSS, and Supabase. Perhaps most rewarding was seeing our vision come to life - we worked so hard as a team and couldn't have gone anywhere with the support we provided for each other. Though moments were intense and hard we stuck together and fought to the very end.

What we learned

Developing Eco Kitty was a fantastic learning experience for our team. We significantly improved our skills in Next.js 14 and TypeScript, while also gaining valuable experience with Supabase and the OpenAI API. The project taught us the importance of clear communication and teamwork, especially when solving complex problems like creating child-friendly AI interactions or designing engaging educational content. We learned to adapt quickly when faced with challenges like outdated API documentation, which pushed us to find creative solutions. Working on an environmentally focused app also showed us how technology can be used to educate and inspire positive change. Overall, this project not only enhanced our technical abilities but also reinforced the value of creating purposeful technology that can make a real difference in the world.

What's next for EcoKitty

• Conduct extensive user testing with children and parents • Expand educational content with more environmental topics and quests • Localize the app for different regions (recycling guidelines, languages) • Create a parental dashboard for progress monitoring • Enhance gamification with rewards, levels, and competitions • Develop resources for school curriculum integration • Continuously improve AI chat responses and accuracy • Add community features for users to share eco-friendly achievements • Partner with environmental organizations to enhance content and reach