guide ai

Inspiration

Inspired by personal travel experiences, Guide AI was created to solve a common problem: wanting to learn about landmarks without hiring a tour guide. It provides the freedom of self-guided exploration with the instant insights of an expert.

What it does

Guide AI is a mobile app that identifies landmarks using your phone's GPS or camera. It then provides an AI-powered audio narration (via ElevenLabs) about the site's history and significance. The app automatically logs visited spots and compiles travel statistics, enriching your journey.

How I built it

The app is built with Expo (React/TypeScript). Landmark recognition is handled by the Google Places API (GPS) and Google Gemini Flash (camera). AI narration is powered by ElevenLabs, and the entire backend, including user data, runs on Convex.

Challenges I ran into

The primary challenges were managing complex React Native dependencies to ensure native features worked reliably. Additionally, learning and implementing Convex for the backend presented a significant learning curve as it was a new platform for our team.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I'm most proud of creating an intuitive and clean user interface using rn reusables, expo and Evans guide ai repo.. I successfully established a strong design foundation that makes the app feel engaging and seamless to use, setting the stage for future enhancements

What I learned

This project provided deep, practical experience in integrating multiple modern APIs (Google, ElevenLabs) into a single application. I honed our skills in React Native, learned to build a full-stack app with Convex, and successfully turned a personal need into a functional product.

What's next for guide ai

Future plans focus on making Guide AI a comprehensive travel companion. Key features on the roadmap include gamification, route planning, social sharing, multi-language localization, and allowing user-created tours.

Built With

• elevenlabs
• expo.io
• typescript