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AI-generated video explanations for any question 🤖

🌟 Inspiration

The inspiration behind IllumiLens AI came from personal struggles with traditional forms of learning, such as lectures and rigid homework assignments. Many students turn to alternative methods to truly understand complex concepts. We were deeply inspired by 3Blue1Brown’s captivating visualization videos, which make math, computer science, and physics feel intuitive. However, these videos are limited to certain examples and topics — only what’s posted.

This sparked an idea: What if we could create a personalized, interactive, and inclusive way of teaching that caters to everyone’s unique learning needs? Especially for students who have been left behind by traditional education methods. And thus, IllumiLens AI was born!

📢 Problem Statement

In traditional educational settings, many students are left behind, not because they lack intelligence, but because their learning style or individual needs are not met. This issue is especially prevalent among students from neurodivergent communities (e.g., those with ADHD, dyslexia, or autism) or individuals with different learning preferences. Traditional lecture-based learning does not cater to these students, leaving them at a disadvantage. Moreover, education is often inaccessible for those who prefer or require visual learning methods but lack access to tailored resources.

IllumiLens AI tackles this inequity by offering a personalized and inclusive learning experience, making complex concepts accessible to all learners, regardless of their background, abilities, or preferred learning style.

💡 What it does

IllumiLens AI provides a personalized, inclusive learning experience for those who struggle with conventional methods of education. We believe learning should be accessible to all, no matter their learning style or background. 🌍

Students — particularly those with neurodivergence (like ADHD, dyslexia, or autism) or those who simply don’t resonate with lectures and textbooks — deserve a different way of understanding complex topics. IllumiLens AI teaches from a visual and intuitive angle, helping users gain deeper insights through dynamic animations and explanations tailored just for them.

Here’s how it works:

• Interactive & Visual: Students can engage with animations that break down complex topics step by step.
• Personalized Preferences: Whether a user prefers only visuals, text + visuals, or a step-by-step guide, the platform adapts.
• Custom Learning Experience: Learners can request explanations optimized for more examples, metaphors, or theory — making difficult subjects accessible to all, regardless of their learning preferences.
• Community: Generated videos are available online, where people can vote on which are the highest quality/most useful

🛠️ How we built it

We used the powerful Manim library to generate visuals via Python code. To make the website most accessible, we built the frontend with Typescript while using Python to streamline the backend. Leveraging the Azure AI API, we dynamically created animations tailored to specific user inputs, allowing for immense user customization. Python scripts are run on the server and videos are converted to binary to be stored in the cloud.

To ensure students could save and revisit their learning materials, we implemented MongoDB Atlas for storing their visualizations and videos, maintaining a leaderboard of animations, and customizing their AI prompts. Signing up and logging in is handled seamlessly with PropelAuth, creating a smooth, user-friendly experience, and is integrated with the database and videos to give each user a profile of past creations.

🚧 Challenges we ran into

Setting up Manim was a major challenge — the number of dependencies required to produce high-quality visuals was no small feat. Crafting the right code for these visuals using AI prompts was another hurdle, as the precision needed to match user requests was tricky to navigate.

We also faced deployment issues and hit a roadblock with the Azure API, which stopped processing requests at 5 AM! But after some coffee and deep troubleshooting, we powered through. ☕💪

🎉 Accomplishments we’re proud of

We’re incredibly proud of building a product that we would love as students and that we believe will make a meaningful impact for others. Our platform aims to help students who have been left behind by traditional systems not because of intelligence, but because their unique learning needs weren’t catered to.

The systems of customization are built specifically around research-proven methods to enhance learning for those with ADHD, focusing on figures, step-by-step reasoning, and the ability to replace complex theory (if you want) with sensible analogies.

On top of that, we’re proud of designing a smooth UI that ensures accessibility, and tackling technical challenges (especially at the crack of dawn!) to deliver a truly functional and beautiful product.

📚 What we learned

From dynamic AI-driven code generation to new tools like the Manim library, MongoDB, and PropelAuth, we’ve learned a lot. We also gained invaluable experience in bridging frontend and backend tools to create a seamless user experience.

One of the biggest takeaways was the importance of personalization in learning — the idea that each student can understand complex topics if taught in a way that makes sense to them.

🚀 What’s next for IllumiLens AI

We’re excited to introduce contextual memory into the platform! Imagine an even more interactive experience where users can ask follow-up questions on specific parts of a visual explanation they don’t understand. 🧠

By continuously adapting to the learner’s needs, IllumiLens AI will become a personalized tutor that evolves with the user, making learning truly inclusive for everyone — no matter their learning style, background, or ability. 🌟

Built With

• api
• azure-ai
• manim
• next.js
• python
• typescript