Lock In

focus timer
countdown to alarm
alarm

Inspiration

When we were supposed to be researching projects together for this hackathon, we kept getting sidetracked and ended up wasting too much time chatting about unrelated topics. This got us thinking about how much we needed a study app like Forest, but for group study sessions. What if there was a way to gamify study sessions with a points system and focus timer to make locking in more fun and productive? And just like that, the concept of Lock In was born.

What it does

Lock In is an app to optimise time spent during group study sessions by measuring the decibels of the surrounding environment, then triggering an alarm if the chosen sound threshold is exceeded for 5 seconds. A points system is incorporated: every second spent focusing earns a point, while every incident of triggering the alarm is a ten-point deduction. Points may be used as a reference of how productive a session was or how suitable an environment may be for locking in.

How we built it

We used Next.js and React for the front-end, Web Audio API to capture and analyse real-time sound levels, and deployed the app on Vercel. Styling was handled with Tailwind CSS, and we integrated a points system to gamify study sessions.

Challenges we ran into

We were all unfamiliar with how git workflow, especially for a collaborative repository. A lot of time was spent trying to configure the branches and ensuring no merge conflicts occurred.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We were able to successfully build a functional, interactive study tool with real-time noise detection and a gamified system. Being able to produce a working product under such a short time constraint, as well as familiarising ourselves with a completely new programming language helped us develop problem solving skills and grow as a team. We deployed our app on Vercel and seeing our ideas come to life was definitely our biggest accomplishment and most rewarding experience.

What we learned

The majority of the team members have never used this specific environment and coding language(s) before. We learned a lot about efficient and organised project structure, which sets a great foundation for the many projects ahead of us.

What's next for Lock In

The current version of LockIn is quite basic and has a lot of potential for more features to be implemented. Our points system, besides being a measurement for how productive a session was, could also have many other usages. Some ideas for this could be a leaderboard-style system where users can compare their productivity, or use their points as currency to unlock custom alarm sounds. The points could also be implemented to determine how loud certain study spots are. This could help mark out more sensory friendly areas that students can choose to go to.