Inspiration
In many university classes, professor notes are not always enough. Students often create clearer summaries and better explanations, but there is no structured way to discover or exchange them. We wanted to build a platform that encourages peer-to-peer academic collaboration while using AI to enhance learning.
What it does
NoteSwipe is a social note-trading platform where students can upload notes, swipe through content from others, match with contributors, and convert notes into AI-generated summaries, flashcards, and practice questions using Google Gemini. The platform increases academic engagement and helps surface top contributors who could become potential peer tutors.
How we built it
We built NoteSwipe as a web application using a React frontend and a cloud-backed database for storing notes and engagement data. We integrated the Google Gemini API as a core feature: Extracting structured text from uploaded handwritten note images Generating summaries, flashcards, and practice questions from note content Formatting math cleanly for better readability Gemini is embedded directly into the study workflow, not just added as a chatbot.
Challenges we ran into
One major challenge was ensuring Gemini outputs were clean and formatted properly for student readability. We also had to handle image-to-text extraction carefully so handwritten notes were usable. Designing a swipe-based academic interface that felt intuitive but still serious enough for university use was another challenge.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are proud of successfully combining social networking mechanics with meaningful AI integration. Students can go from raw notes to structured study material instantly. We also built a leaderboard system that highlights top academic contributors, creating real incentive for high-quality participation.
What we learned
We learned that AI is most powerful when embedded directly into real user workflows. We also learned how to structure API prompts effectively to produce clean educational outputs. Building under hackathon time constraints strengthened our ability to prioritize core functionality and deliver a polished prototype.
What's next for NoteSwipe
Next, we would expand matching into full group messaging, implement reputation scoring for academic contributors, and partner with university tutoring programs to identify high-performing students.
We envision NoteSwipe becoming a campus-wide academic collaboration platform.
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