Quasar - eCommerce for the future

Your shopping should be as smart as you are. Experience an intelligent shopping platform that utilizes AR and ML to find the product you need. Crypto friendly and NCR-services compatible.

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*NCR's 'Machine Learning in Retail' Challenge Winner!*

See it here - best on Desktop

Inspiration

As brick-and-mortar stores close across the country, beaten by online retail giants like Amazon and Walmart, shoppers are forced to purchase online. While digital shopping can be more convenient and accessible to millions, consumers miss out on the interaction with products in their own physical environment and finding products can be tough when you do not know what to search for. This is why we have created Quasar, a web app available on desktop, iOS, and Android that uses augmented reality, machine learning, blockchain, and crypto to modernize shopping - making a new interplay between the physical world and digital shopping platforms.

What it does

  • Modernizes the digital shopping experience, leveraging augmented reality (AR) and machine learning (ML) techniques to bring digital shopping to your physical world
  • Visualizes products in their own physical environment through 3D product models and augmented reality
  • ML-powered smarter search - users can search for products by scanning images of related products, eliminating the need for keyword searches
  • Have peace of mind knowing the user will receive top quality products verified through a private blockchain acting as a quality control ledger for products
  • Enables crypto payments for products, enabling a larger audience to purchase products
  • Blockchain-based QC ledger to keep track of the lifecycle of a product from manufacturing to production to store shelves

How we built it

  1. ReactJS
  2. 3D models & Augmented Reality (using Echo3D)
  3. Authentication & Database (using Firebase)
  4. Machine Learning (using TensorFlow.js)
  5. Crypto Payments (using CryptoJS)
  6. Wireframing & Prototyping (using Figma)

Challenges we ran into

  • Integrating the ML model into our app
  • Navigating Nodejs merge conflicts -- package-lock was a nightmare
  • Learning a new front-end framework (ReactJS) for most of our members
  • Debugging dependency versions

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Augmented reality
  • Trained ML model
  • Good-looking UI
  • Crypto payments
  • We got a lot done in 36 hours

One thing we're most proud of is how our team was able to make the most out of each member's core strengths. Our specialties ranged from UI/UX to Full-Stack to Machine Learning, and somehow, we came together to create something beautiful with a ton of functionality. Alone, we would not have created such an awesome project with Quasar. But together, we inspired each other, supported each other and brought forth each other's best work.

What we learned

  • Implementing a ML model
  • TailwindCSS/UX design
  • Using a state-of-the-art front-end framework (ReactJS)
  • Working towards a common goal

The most important thing we learned was how to work together as a team, even if we aren't physically near each other. At some points of the project, half of our team was virtual, and it was imperative that we clearly fleshed out a plan before programming to guarantee that we have the same vision for the project, rather than 4 separate ones. Our initial idea formulation meeting lasted over 2 hours, delegating tasks to each other and clarifying the goals/purpose of our hackathon project.

What's next for Quasar

We want to change how people see innovation. Though Quasar may not continue into the near future, the ideals of using innovative technologies to drastically change the status-quo of our daily lives will continue to live on through each of the members of team Quasar. We will continue to find ways to push the envelope and make people re-think the way they do things. One immediate goal is to continue improving the user experience and one way we can do that is by ensuring our design is responsive to multiple screen sizes (right now Quasar is not meant to be viewed on a mobile device) and to those with accessibility concerns.

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