Working UI of Pipboy

Inspiration

Just like TARS was a trusted AI companion in Interstellar, Pipboy is designed to be the digital survival assistant for smart cities—helping people move, connect, and live better every day. I wanted something that could act like a personal AI and also a city guide, keeping people safe while helping them move efficiently in a smart city.

What it does

Pipboy is a retro-futuristic smart city companion designed to make urban living seamless. It provides navigation, real-time city updates, and emergency alerts while supporting both text and voice interaction. Built for accessibility, it assists citizens of all ages, even offline, ensuring reliable guidance anytime. With its engaging Fallout-inspired design, Pipboy transforms city services into an intelligent, user-friendly experience.

How we built it

Designed the assistant’s personality and interface with a clean, retro futuristic theme. Built the desktop app in Python using Tkinter for GUI. Integrated AI model (LM Studio offline) for better responses. Added real-time text display. Packaged the system for smooth demo and deployment.

Challenges we ran into

While building Pipboy, we faced challenges like ensuring smooth integration of AI models with the GUI, handling API errors and offline mode compatibility, and optimizing voice input/output for real-time use. Balancing performance with user experience was tough, especially on limited hardware. Designing a simple yet retro futuristic interface while keeping it lightweight was also a major challenge.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud of successfully creating a functional AI assistant that runs with text interaction, offering real-time responses through an intuitive interface. We built a reliable system that can guide users with information, adapt its personality, and operate in a lightweight setup. Delivering this futuristic assistant is our biggest achievement.

What we learned

We learned how to integrate AI models with a user-friendly GUI, implement voice interaction, and design offline-ready systems. We also gained experience in balancing technical complexity with simplicity to ensure accessibility for everyday users.

What's next for Pipboy

We aim to expand Pipboy with real-time navigation, IoT integration for smart devices, and offline map support. Future updates will focus on enhanced personalization, security, and making it a reliable everyday assistant for smart city living.