Inspiration
Since the pandemic hit, impacting many people across the world, many have become worn out and are struggling to stay positive in a trying time. From losing loved ones to becoming fatigued from long hours of working, many people need some extra positivity in their everyday lives. So we decided to make BrightSide, a Google Chrome extension that brings a spark of positivity straight to you. Let’s start 2021 on the BrightSide ☀️
What it does
Pulling from the most wholesome internet posts, BrightSide provides a snapshot full of good vibes. Every click on the “Randomize” button generates a new photo, though our timer feature limits the user to ten positive images every hour to prevent endless consumption.
How we built it
We utilized JSON scripts produced by the Reddit API to retrieve user content from Subreddit threads that were “BrightSide-friendly”. We parsed JSON scripts and used Browserify in conjunction with raw HTML, CSS, and Javascript to generate an interactive web-based Chrome extension. Our manifest.json file was used to specify fundamental metadata and incorporate our scripts in compliance with Google Chrome extension protocols.
Challenges we ran into
We initially ran into trouble with incorporating our original idea of creating a volunteering platform, as we were not able access a public-facing API and did not have enough time to negotiate usage of a consumer-based API with the organization. We realigned our project and cut down on extra features to focus on delivering a fully-functioning extension that could still focus on helping the community get through the global pandemic, one day at a time.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Developing BrightSide was a fantastic experience for the team. Seeing the product come to life through our collaborative efforts and teamwork was very inspiring to see and made us proud to develop this application. In particular, creating custom art for this application was a wonderful accomplishment, as this makes this application feel more personal and gives it more life than it would have otherwise. Developing mockups was also a fantastic accomplishment we are proud of, as it improved the organization of the team activities and made it more akin to a professional team than a novice one. We are also proud of, as we were able to extract a great amount of content from the internet. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment we are proud of is having the opportunity to meet each other. This project brought us together and greatly improved our bonds.
What we learned
Building BrightSide from the ground up was a great learning experience. Diligent communication was essential as the virtual aspect of the hackathon limited our group work. To create the best product we could, we learned that delegating tasks was the key to bringing our product to life. Finally, we recognized the importance of adapting during a short time period and setting realistic goals for ourselves.
What's next for BrightSide
Going forward, we want to continue to code the prototype to our ideas to life. We hope to implement more robust fixes in newer releases and add new functionality such as customizable timer settings, subreddit options, and machine-learning models to tailor BrightSide content towards user preferences. We are currently in the process of code inspection to publish BrightSide on the Google Chrome store, and hope to expand to other browser platforms and to add mobile support to increase the inclusivity of BrightSide and users with potentially limited technology access.
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