DigiPet

DigiPet is an interactive learning platform that reminds you to stay consistent in your learning with a virtual pet

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Inspiration

Maintaining a daily coding habit is one of the hardest hurdles for aspiring software engineers. Traditional platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank are invaluable for interview preparation, but their sterile interfaces and repetitive grind can lead to quick burnout.

We asked ourselves a simple question: What if practicing computer science felt less like isolated homework and more like leveling up in an MMORPG?

We drew inspiration from classic virtual pets (Tamagotchi), RPG progression systems, and interactive adventure maps. By pairing a structured learning curriculum with an interactive digital cat companion—available both on the web and everywhere you browse via a Chrome Extension—Digi-Pet turns problem-solving into an encouraging, daily adventure.

What it does

Digi-Pet merges computer science education, gamified progression, and artificial intelligence into a single seamless experience:

  • Interactive Adventure Map: Explore themed learning worlds with 8-segment progression wheels. Each topic world structures learning systematically across 8 tailored problems (3 Easy, 3 Medium, 2 Hard).
  • Multi-Language Sandbox: Code directly in a feature-rich editor supported by Judge0 runtimes (JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, C, C++, Java, Go, Rust, React/JSX, C#, Kotlin, PHP, Ruby) with expected output verification.
  • AI Tutor & Evaluation Engine: Integrated Google Gemini endpoints evaluate written conceptual answers, generate hints, summarize explanations, and power real-time cat conversations.
  • Dashboard Analytics: Monitor activity heatmaps, subject breakdowns, weak spots, score trends, and daily practice streaks.
  • Virtual Cat Companion: An animated companion that celebrates achievements and interacts with you on the main web platform or across external websites using a Manifest V3 Chrome Extension.

How we built it

Digi-Pet was engineered as a full-stack Web application with modular extension targets:

  • Frontend: Built with React 18, TypeScript, and Vite for type safety and fast visual rendering.
  • Backend API: Powered by Node.js and Express (deployed as Vercel serverless routes) for secure code execution routing and AI prompt handling.
  • Code Execution: Integrated with a Judge0-compatible API for sandboxed multi-language compilation and evaluation.
  • AI Intelligence: Leveraged Google Gemini (gemini-2.5-flash) for automated written-answer grading, pet chat, and answer summarization.
  • Chrome Extension (Manifest V3): Developed content scripts to inject the animated cat onto web pages, paired with background service workers and chrome.storage.local to trigger daily reminder alarms.
  • Desktop Prototype: Developed a standalone Electron prototype inside app/ to explore OS-level pet interactions.

Challenges we faced

  1. DOM Style Isolation in Chrome Extension: Injecting content script elements onto third-party sites meant host CSS rules could easily distort the cat's animations. We scoped extension style wrappers to ensure visual consistency regardless of the host site.
  2. Multi-Language Runtime Synchronization: Standardizing input/output parsing, execution error handling, and timeout limits across 13 Judge0 runtime environments required strict fallback handling.
  3. AI Evaluator Calibration: Prompt engineering Gemini to deliver strict, accurate criteria evaluations while keeping the digital pet's conversational tone encouraging required careful schema structuring and system instruction tuning.

What we learned

  • Manifest V3 Extension Mechanics: Gained deep experience with Chrome service workers, alarm management, background event pages, and message passing.
  • Full-Stack AI Integration: Mastered integrating LLM API contracts efficiently into production workflows for immediate, low-latency feedback.
  • Gamified UX Engineering: Discovered how continuous feedback mechanisms—like segment wheels and dynamic companion celebrations—measurably increase user engagement during complex technical learning.

What's next for Digi-Pet

  • Adaptive Diagnostic Recommendations: Automatically suggesting challenges based on weakness trends identified in the user dashboard.
  • Pet Customization & Avatars: Unlocking collectible cat skins, background maps, and pet accessories through achievement milestones.
  • Expanded STEM Curricula: Developing dedicated progression maps for System Design, Machine Learning, and Applied Discrete Mathematics.
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