PyCat.exe

PyCat.exe is an app that generates a pixel cat at the bottom of your screen. It has 2 purposes: a) as a virtual pet & b) as a tool to help prevent various eye conditions that affect millions globally

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Inspiration:

Inspired by the fellow hackathon members/programmers who were glued to their screens & programming (including myself), I wanted to create an application that can help them a) have a virtual companion, and b) more importantly - to maintain their eye-health & prevent eye-related diseases (hopefully).

What it does:

Open the pyCat.exe file that can be found in the GitHub repository.

Initially, it generates a cute little virtual cat on the bottom of your screen. It will then move around the bottom of your screen & do its own thing (enjoy the cute little animations).

Every 20 minutes, you will start to notice your cat no longer being energetic & in fact, it will become deceased. This is an indicator for you to take a break from your screen. This subtle act of the cat "dying" is to remind you to take a break & to look away from the screen for a while, for we only have one pair of eyes, and ultimately one life only which we should all treasure.

This approach/solution used in this desktop app is actually inspired by actual recommendations/guidance by the American Academy of Ophthalmology. They recommend that you take a break every 20 minutes & look away from the screen for 20 seconds at things that are at least 20 feet away.

How I've built it:

  1. Python (Core programming language)
  2. Tkinter (Python GUI library)
  3. Ezgif.com (gif maker)
  4. Open source art assets by Bow.Pixel
  5. Pyinstaller (to package everything up & create the executable/.exe file)

Challenges I've ran into:

  1. Trying to fight against & resist the Zzz monster (the temptation to sleep)
  2. A lot of python debugging had to be done...fixed whatever issues I could
  3. Having too many ideas (that were either too complex to be done in a 1 day hackathon or would be better to do as personal projects instead). Nonetheless, with some filtering, managed to come out up with PyCat.exe :)

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

  1. Being able to finish the project on time, and having sufficient time to do a wonderful README.md on GitHub (with healthcare references) and this post as well.
  2. Being able to learn new skills/libraries & improve existing knowledge of Python!
  3. Being able to present a working demo/product to the wonderful judges!

What I learned:

  1. Good ideas take time.
  2. Persistence is key.
  3. You can DO IT!

What's next for PyCat.exe (if there's time):

  1. Add new cats of different colour schemes
  2. Port over .py script into a Chrome extension (for cross-OS compatibility)
  3. Consider usage of various AI/ML libraries like ScikitLearn? (that may have pre-trained model to track eye movements?)

Additional

For more information on why this project was created, please refer to this GitHub Link

Done by:

  • Melvin Ng (Tag Number: T430, Participant ID: #609)
  • Created as part of the NUS Hack&Roll 2023 Hackathon event (14/01/2023 - 15/01/2023)
  • GitHub Profile

Built With

  • ezgif.com
  • freeart
  • pyinstaller
  • python
  • tkinter
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