Kaboom Critters

Inspiration:

I wanted to explore real-time interaction with Socket.IO and create an engaging, educational platform.

What it does

This project creates an interactive educational environment where users can join a topic-based room from different devices. An AI generates questions related to the chosen topic, along with three answer choices on cards. Users collaborate to choose the correct answer, communicate in real-time via chat, and discuss why a particular answer is right or wrong. This setup encourages active learning and peer collaboration in a fun, game-like setting.

How we built it

The frontend is built with React for a responsive user experience, and the backend uses Express.js and Socket.IO to manage real-time interactions. We integrated a local LLaMA 3.1 8B model, managed through Ollama, to generate educational questions and answer choices dynamically.

Challenges we ran into

One major challenge was integrating the AI model directly with the application. Although the AI runs smoothly in the terminal, we faced difficulties incorporating it seamlessly into the backend code, which impacted the overall responsiveness.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud of the functional live chat feature, which can handle multiple users smoothly, allowing real-time communication in each room.

What we learned

This project taught us how to set up and use Socket.IO for real-time communication, managing rooms, and enabling multiplayer interactions in a web application.

What's next for Kaboom Critters

We plan to add AI-generated questions and answer options fully into the gameplay. The next step is to introduce the game mechanics, where after seven incorrect answers, a "Kaboom!" message will pop up, adding a playful challenge to encourage learning through trial and error.

Built With

• express.js
• llama3.1-8b
• ollama
• react
• socket.io