GreenOvation: Nurturing Sustainability Through Technology
Inspiration
Witnessing the escalating consequences of climate change and feeling the urgency to foster environmental awareness and action led to the creation of GreenOvation. Furthermore, GreenOvation aims to dismantle the notion that eco-friendly practices are a chore, the app leverages gamification and machine learning to turn sustainable living into an engaging and rewarding journey, empowering individuals to play a proactive role in forging a greener future. Lastly, sustainability shouldn't come with a price tag. Every individual, regardless of financial capacity, can participate in environmental efforts through an app accessible to all: GreenOvation.
What it does
GreenOvation unites technology and sustainability through five compelling features, each instilled with machine learning and gamification to enhance users' eco-journeys:
💚 Feature #1: EnviroSight
GreenOvation's EnviroSight turns waste disposal into a game by using the Inceptionv3 model, pretrained on the ImageNet dataset, to identify objects and their proper disposal methods. Users snap pictures of objects, guess their disposal method, and earn points for correct answers, blending learning and fun in sustainability through a ML-based approach.
🌿 Feature #2: EcoBias
EcoBias utilizes a CoreML-based sentiment and text classification model to discern the bias in environmental articles sourced from NewsAPI. This enables users to formulate informed opinions on environmental topics, while being cognizant of potential biases in the content.
🍀 Feature #3: SustainServe
GreenOvation's SustainServe feature transforms volunteering into a personalized, engaging activity by aligning users' unique skills and passions with environmental volunteer opportunities. Users input their preferences and the feature generates a custom list of volunteer roles. Additionally, users gain points by volunteering, therefore enhancing their motivation to be sustainability.
🌱 Feature #4: CarbonReveal
CarbonReveal utilizes the YOLO model and provides users with real-time carbon analysis. Users simply point their cameras to an object and are provided with a color coded analysis on the carbon impact of the object as well as eco-friendly alternatives.
🔒 Feature #5: Leaderboard & Security
Users securely sign up and log in via Firebase authentication. Additionally, points earned from various app features are stored in a database and reflected on the leadboard. The inclusion of a leaderboard not only introduces a competitive, gamified element but also incentivizes sustainability by recognizing users' environmental achievements within the GreenOvation community.
How it was built
Technology Stack:
- Front-end: iOS (utilizing Storyboard and the Swift language)
- Back-end: Firebase Authentication and Cloud Firestore Database
- Machine Learning: YOLO, Inceptionv3, CoreML
Development Journey:
Creating GreenOvation was a hands-on, learning-filled adventure. From the start, the goal was clear: make an app that used smart tech to help people live more sustainably in a fun way. Tackling challenges like finding the right data, navigating through iOS development quirks, and ensuring a smooth user experience were all part of the ride. In every obstacle, I found new solutions and learned more, always keeping our eyes on the goal to make being eco-friendly engaging and accessible for all our users.
Challenges
- API Limitations: High costs and lack of suitable APIs.
- Data Scarcity: Difficulty in obtaining a fitting dataset for the EcoBias feature.
- Technical Issues: Wrestling with iOS auto layouts, constraints, and real-time data updating in the app.
- Budget Constraints: Finding cost-effective solutions without compromising functionality (e.g. finding a low-cost API).
Accomplishments that we're proud of
- Manual Database Creation: Building a functioning database for the SustainServe feature despite API constraints.
- Problem Resolution: Finding alternative datasets to train the EcoBias feature.
- UX Problem Solving: Effectively solving the user eco-points updating issue.
- Firebase: Learning and implementing Firebase for secure user authentication and utilizing Cloud Firestore effectively for managing and storing data, ensuring a smooth and secure user experience.
- Comprehensive Development: Successfully combining gamification, ML, and sustainability in one app.
What I've learned
- Innovative Problem Solving: Employing creativity when met with financial and technical roadblocks.
- Data Management: Effectively utilizing and managing available datasets to train ML algorithms.
- UX Design: Addressing and resolving user experience issues, especially pertaining to real-time data updating.
What's next for GreenOvation
- Enhancing SustainServe: With potential future funding, the SustainServe feature can be tranformed from using information manually inputed into a database to a robust API.
- Refining EcoBias: By utilizing more accurate and relevant datasets, and expanding its analytical capacities.
- Introducing CO2 Analytics: A dashboard that allows users to monitor and competitively compare their carbon footprints.
- User Community: Building a space within the app for users to share experiences, tips, and form eco-challenges.
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