ScribblMath

Virtual math done right

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Inspiration

Being in a worldwide pandemic, teaching mathematics has certainly become a struggle for both students and teachers. We have all been in that one Zoom call where your math teacher is trying to explain some sort of concept, and due to the lack of tools available, it simply isn't a good time for anyone.

What it does

Inspired from the lack of math functionality on most video chat platforms, our team created a web application focused on accommodating students and teachers alike for their math needs. ScribblMath is a video chatting platform that implements the staples of video chat like webcams and a chat, but also adds elements that are crucial to conveying complex mathematics in an easy way. These primarily include a virtual drawing board as well as LaTeX math typesetting support in the chat box! This means that your teacher will no longer have to spend hours trying to type out the correct math equation or attempt to draw the ten symbols that each of the equations has that you learned that day. It will look just like the way it does in your textbook!!

How we built it

Our team used the React framework to construct our frontend and used the Express framework for the backend.

Challenges we ran into

Throughout this project, we ran into many different challenges. In regards to the front end, constructing the router and utilizing React hooks were major obstacles. On the other hand, the backend was equally as challenging. Setting up the peer to peer communication system between clients was extremely tedious and difficult.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of our first ever react framework website. We are specifically proud of getting the website hosted and up for use. We are also proud of the fact that we developed and delivered a functioning prototype of our product in just 17 hours (during COVID Hacks 2020)! This is also why you may find some nuanced bugs :)

What we learned

We learned A LOT. To specify, our team had no background in the React framework but managed to put everything together and create a functional website. We learned many small but significant differences between React and native HTML. We also learned how to implement cool features such as a video log, virtual drawing board, and chat box.

What's next for ScribblMath

To begin, we want to first fix the minor bugs on our website. After this, we want to add multiple client rooms and attach usernames next to webcams. There many more things we would like to implement, but fixing all the little bugs is our priority.

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