A Sillycon Hackathon Project
Dating apps have become a chore—a repetitive cycle of swiping and small talk. We wanted to bring back the high-stakes energy of a game show. We took the anxiety of a first date, the chaos of a Twitch stream, and the judgment of an AI referee to create a "Dating Gladiator" arena where the goal isn't just to find love, but to survive the "cringe.
-Roses are RED (FLAGS) is a live-spectated video dating platform.
-The Arena: Two strangers enter a 3-minute video chat.
-The AI Referee: Lovable AI monitors the audio in real-time, flagging "Red Flags" (talking about exes, being boring), awarding "Smooth Moves," and providing live commentary.
-The Spectators: Friends can watch the date live in a private "War Room" and use Sabotage Tools to send embarrassing questions or trigger "Truth or Dare" challenges to test the daters' composure.
Below is the full user journey for both Spectator and Dating modes.
We utilized a modern, high-performance stack to ensure the "Arena" never lags: -Frontend: React 18 + Vite for speed.
-Styling: Tailwind CSS for that deep black (#050505) and neon pink (#FF007F) aesthetic.
-Motion: Framer Motion for the signature falling rose petals.
-Real-time Logic: ```javascript // Example of the Sabotage Broadcast Logic const sendSabotage = async (type) => { await supabase.channel('arena_room').send({ type: 'broadcast', event: 'SABOTAGE_TRIGGERED', payload: { effect: type, timestamp: Date.now() } }); };
- The "Live" Interaction Paradox The biggest hurdle was building a stable Two-Way Video Arena. Most dating apps are asynchronous (swiping), but our "Gladiator" concept requires daters to be live, in sync, and reactive. -Standard video streaming often has a 5-10 second delay. If an AI Referee roasts a dater 10 seconds after they said something "cringe," the joke dies and the momentum is lost.-
- Balancing the "Vibe Check" We needed a way to measure the quality of a date that was more sophisticated than a simple "thumbs up." -How do you reward a "Smooth Operator" while still allowing for the occasional awkward silence? We had to design a logic system that could distinguish between a "dead conversation" and a "meaningful pause."-
- Syncing the Spectator War Room -Having 12+ spectators in a "War Room" all trying to trigger sound effects and "Red Flags" at once could easily crash a browser.-
-The Neon-Noir Aesthetic: We successfully created a "Strict Dark Mode" that feels premium, chaotic, and high-energy all at once.
- Local video implementaion.
-The Sabotage System: Making the spectators feel like "Dating Gods" who can influence the outcome of the date in real-time.
-Platform Fluidity: Navigating from a landing page into a live-action video arena feels seamless, with no jarring loading screens or broken flows.
During the hackathon, we implemented a local video playback feature to enhance user engagement and create a more immersive experience. The video was bundled directly within the application package, allowing seamless offline playback with zero buffering — which was critical for maintaining reliability during live demos. We used Android’s native VideoView component along with a MediaController to provide intuitive playback controls while keeping the implementation efficient within the limited timeframe.
Building this project taught us that UX is more than just buttons. In a live environment, UX is about timing — how media loads, how data updates, and how interactions feel in real time. We learned how to manage real-time data streams effectively and how to use AI not just as a tool, but as a “character” within the social experience. The combination of multimedia elements and responsive design helped us create a more dynamic and engaging application.
-AI Voice Commentary: Giving the AI Referee a physical voice to roast daters out loud.
-Gauntlet Mode: A survival-style mode where one dater must stay on camera as challengers are rotated in.
-Global Leaderboards: Ranking the world's "Red Flag Champions" and "Smooth Operators."