Lokalin

Lokalin is an AI powered platform to preserve Indonesian folktales by enabling communities to submit, translate, and share local stories protecting culture for future generations.

Comment

Inspiration

Indonesia has over 700 local languages and thousands of untold stories, yet most of them remain undocumented. Inspired by the urgency to preserve cultural identity in the face of globalization, we created Lokalin—a platform that empowers communities to tell, share, and protect their heritage using AI and collective participation, AI tools like Claude.ai, ChatGPT by OpenAI played a key role in helping us brainstorm, plan, and present our product effectively

What it does

Lokalin allows users to submit local stories, including folktales and personal cultural experiences. The platform features AI-powered translation for regional languages, automatic content moderation, community recognition via top story leaderboards, and a face-to-face cultural sharing mode. It acts as a living archive and inclusive digital space for storytelling and cultural exchange.

How we built it

We built Lokalin by focusing on a community-first MVP, starting with the story submission form, leaderboard display, and AI-powered translation and moderation. Throughout the development process, we actively utilized AI tools to support product ideation, streamline design iterations, and generate written and interface content. AI also assisted in refining user flows. Using Figma, we created high-fidelity visual prototypes to represent the full future ecosystem. Given our limitations, we prioritized front-end development and designed the user interface with accessibility and mobile usability in mind—especially for remote and underserved areas. We adopted a modular approach, envisioning a roadmap that will allow future integration of features such as interactive cultural maps, educational modes, and storytelling chats.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge we faced was integrating all features without a backend developer. Since our team lacked backend support, we focused heavily on design and prototyping. It was difficult to simulate advanced functionalities like real-time interaction, face detection, or live moderation without backend infrastructure.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Designing a scalable storytelling ecosystem grounded in cultural sustainability.
  • Creating a fully clickable MVP prototype that demonstrates real user flows.
  • Building features that integrate AI ethically and inclusively for community impact.
  • Ensuring a non-profit, community-centered approach that invites collaboration from educators, NGOs, and indigenous storytellers.

What we learned

We learned the power of design-driven development, especially when backend capacity is limited. We also realized how technology and tradition can co-exist, and that local communities are not just audiences but co-creators of meaningful digital heritage.

What's next for Lokalin

In the next phase, we plan to:

  • Develop Lokalin into a full-featured web platform, integrating all the improved and future-ready features we have designed.
  • Build backend infrastructure to support content moderation, storytelling interactions, curator roles, and user profiles.
  • Onboard local educators, cultural activists, and NGOs as curators to help validate and enrich content.
  • Launch a beta pilot in rural and remote communities, with a focus on mobile-friendly, offline-compatible access.
  • Expand to include features such as Interactive Cultural Maps, Education Mode, Cultural Chat, and a dashboard for government and NGOs to track impact and cultural engagement.
  • Implement impact measurement tools to evaluate user engagement, number of preserved stories, language diversity, and educational uptake.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates