ELIA - Environmental Lifecycle Intelligence Assistant

Your AI companion for a more sustainable future. Track habits, learn through play, and visualize your real-world impact.

Comment

About the Project

Inspiration

Climate change is a global crisis, but individual action often feels invisible and disconnected.
We were inspired to build ELIA because most carbon trackers are boring, manual, and fail to engage users. We wanted sustainability to feel interactive, rewarding, and educational.

Our vision: a companion that learns from you, guides you, and visualizes your impact on a global scale.

What It Does

ELIA (Environmental Lifecycle Intelligence Assistant) is a futuristic platform that merges Generative AI, 3D interactivity, and gamification.

  • AI Eco-Journal: Log your daily habits naturally; ELIA calculates metrics like CO₂ emissions, water usage, energy consumption, waste, and food footprint.
  • Global Impact Map: Visualize community-wide impact in real-time on a stunning 3D map.
  • Gamified Learning: Play mini-games like the Carbon Sort Challenge or take interactive quizzes to learn and compete.
  • Analytics & Rewards: Track progress with charts, earn badges, and participate in challenges.

How We Built It

Our tech stack combines modern web technologies with AI and 3D graphics:

  • Frontend: Next.js 16 (App Router) + Tailwind CSS v4 + Framer Motion
  • Backend & Auth: Firebase (Auth + Firestore)
  • AI Engine: Google Gemini (via Firebase Genkit)
  • 3D Graphics: Three.js & React Three Fiber
  • Maps: Mapbox GL
  • Icons: Lucide React

We leveraged physics-based interactions, raycasting, and real-time updates to create an immersive experience.

Challenges We Ran Into

  • Translating natural language into accurate environmental metrics. ELIA needed a follow-up system to clarify vague entries.
  • Optimizing 3D performance for web games while maintaining interactivity.
  • Balancing fun and education: gamification had to be meaningful and teach sustainability principles.
  • Real-time community impact visualization required careful handling of large datasets and live updates.

Accomplishments That We're Proud Of

  • Built a fully functional AI-powered sustainability assistant in a hackathon timeframe.
  • Created 3D interactive games that teach real-world environmental concepts.
  • Integrated real-time analytics and community tracking.
  • Designed a polished, responsive interface that’s both fun and educational.

What We Learned

  • How to integrate AI models (Gemini) into a React/Next.js workflow.
  • Physics and 3D rendering for interactive web applications using Three.js and React Three Fiber.
  • Gamification strategies to engage users and motivate sustainable behavior.
  • Best practices for real-time databases and efficient data visualization.

We also discovered the importance of user-centered design: clarity, feedback, and motivation are key for adoption.

What's Next for ELIA

  • AR Carbon Visualization: Show users’ personal impact in augmented reality (WebXR).
  • IoT Integration: Connect with smart devices to automatically track energy and water usage.
  • Corporate Sustainability Challenges: Help companies engage employees in sustainable practices.
  • Mobile App: React Native version for on-the-go tracking.
  • Multiplayer Games & Quizzes: Enhance social learning and competition.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates