Planet Pals

Ember Guardian hatching
Ember Guardian: Fire Results
Ember Guardian's World
Terra Guardian: Earth Results
Terra Guardian's World
Wave Wanderer: Water Results
Wave Wanderer's World
Sky Whisperer: Air Results
Sky Whisperer's World

Inspiration:

Despite growing global awareness of environmental crises and the measurable impact of individual consumption and waste habits, a significant gap exists between intent and action, resulting in the continued degradation of air, water, and land resources. We wanted to build a platform like Tamagotchi and Duolingo where we were able to teach the users a new skill and hold them accountable for their sustainability goals.

What it does:

Our solution is a mobile app that monitors and tracks users’ daily habits related to waste, energy use, and consumption. By assessing where they currently are and providing real-time feedback, the app introduces actionable, achievable tasks over time — helping users build sustainable behaviors at a manageable pace.

How we built it:

We began by exploring how AI could support daily sustainable actions through personalized insights. Using Manus AI and Lovable, we researched UN Sustainable Development Goals and narrowed our focus to pollution reduction. From this, we developed four elemental companions connected to environments users care about. Lovable guided our wireframes, layout decisions, and user flows, allowing us to rapidly iterate and prototype a cohesive experience.

Challenges we ran into:

We had to quickly narrow our scope and identify features that would genuinely motivate users and support long-term retention. Translating our Figma designs into a functional Lovable prototype added complexity, and the tight timeline required us to balance feasibility, clarity, and user value. Ultimately, prioritizing core features demanded fast decision-making and close teamwork.

Accomplishments that we're proud of:

We created individual prototypes for each elemental “egg,” ensuring the UI felt fun and game-like while still supporting daily habit-building. We’re proud of how our prototype blends an emotional, human-centered companion system with actionable sustainability guidance. Using Manus AI for research helped shape our task logic and companion identities, allowing us to turn complex sustainability ideas into something warm, clear, and motivating.

What we learned:

We learned how to blend human-centered emotional design with actionable sustainability guidance. Using Manus AI and Lovable taught us to meaningfully integrate AI into every part of the process, from research and task logic to imagery and prototyping. Along the way, we strengthened our teamwork, communication, and rapid concept development skills while navigating tight deadlines.

What's next for Planet Pals:

We would like to user test the app and see what a real-life user thinks about the app and go on from building the app further. we would also like to integrate more APIs to build a AR trash scanning feature to document daily trash and where the users can cut down and make more sustainable choices. We would also like to build a community feature for the users of the app to encourage each other.