Inspiration
In today's market consumers often only see basic information about a product and make purchasing decisions without knowing the full story. They may not realize if a product is banned in another country, involved in ongoing legal disputes, or has potential long-term health risks. This lack of transparency can lead to uninformed choices and even put consumers at risk.
What it does
My app changes that! By scanning the product, Know Your Product pulls comprehensive data from official government databases to provide key insights—everything from legal issues and safety concerns to potential alternatives for a better comparison. This transparency not only empowers consumers to make informed, confident choices but also promotes greater social awareness and accountability in the marketplace. Know Your Product is an innovative mobile app that gives consumers deeper insights into the products they purchase by providing access to hidden details that are typically not visible on labels. By simply scanning a product's barcode or taking a picture, the app pulls relevant data from official government databases and legal records to inform users about:
Legal Issues (e.g., lawsuits, recalls, or disputes)
Safety Concerns (e.g., health risks or banned ingredients).make it concise
Global Bans (e.g., whether the product is banned in other countries)
Alternative Products (e.g., safer or more ethical alternatives)
This empowers users to make more informed, confident, and responsible choices while promoting greater transparency and accountability in the marketplace.
How we built it
Frontend: A web application built to seamlessly integrate with various mobile platforms (iOS and Android). Technologies used include: React JS
Backend: The backend infrastructure relies on cloud servers to handle image processing and data retrieval. Key technologies include: Flask (Python)
Google Vision API: This was used for extracting text and product details from images scanned by users. (In the future, we plan to transition to Google Vision’s Product API for more specific product detection).
Local Database: Initially, the app uses a local database that includes essential product information like legal status and safety records. (JSON files)
Future API Integrations: We plan to integrate official government APIs to expand data sources for more real-time and accurate product insights.
The workflow starts when a user captures a product image, which is processed by our backend servers to extract text and retrieve corresponding data. The app then presents relevant details like legal issues, health risks, and alternative suggestions.
Challenges we ran into
- Integrating the Google Vision API for image processing and text extraction
- Developing a user-friendly interface that is intuitive and accessible
- Understand the JS/HTML feature of capturing data through webcam and how that could be sent to backend server.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
- Successfully integrating the Google Vision API for image processing
- Creating a functional app prototype with a user-friendly interface within a short timeframe single handedly.
- First time using React JS and Flask, and successfully implementing them in the project.
What we learned
- Google Vision API for image processing and text extraction
- Flask for backend development and API integration
- Canvas and webcam integration for image capture
What's next for Know Your Product
- Integrate more official government APIs for real-time data retrieval
- Implement Google Vision’s Product API for more specific product detection
- Enhance the app’s user interface and experience
- Expand the database to include more product categories and details
- Build mobile apps for iOS and Android platforms
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