Homiego

Inspiration

Our inspiration for this project came from speaking to the developers who worked on HomeLINK at the WiTathon. We were excited to find ways to improve their existing products to make them more accessible and useful for a wider range of users. Some key enhancements are tracking the light conditions within homes (along with temperature, humidity and air quality), and the AI overview feature which summarises the home's health using human speech.

What it does

Homiego is our adorable mascot that will monitor the health of your home. Using data collected by various sensors installed around your home, it gives vocal updates and recommendations - through the hardware or in-app.

Some of us live in old houses where humidity is a constant issue, so having a vocal reminder would really help as it sometimes slips our minds to wipe the condensation off the window during a busy weekday morning!

How we built it

We used Android Studio with Kotlin to develop the mobile app. The home health overview feature uses the Google Gemini API.

Challenges we ran into

Our team consists of two chemical engineers, one physics and one computer science student - so the app development involved a steep learning curve! We struggled with creating the physical sensor (associated with the app) for measuring light. Due to time constraints, this feature is mostly conceptual however we truly believe in its potential.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Our Mascot! Have you seen it?! It’s so cute!

What we learned

Between the four of us, we’ve learned about the work that goes into programming - and how to turn what we want to see into something real. Through our research, we also learnt about the importance of light on the health of a home's residents and its effects on their circadian rhythm.

What's next for Homiego

Developing hardware sensors to put it all together. Also gamifying the app - with avatar customization and accessories to make people more involved with taking cares of their homes (and Homiego!)