Inspiration
We were inspired to build this project from personal experience and to confront the impacts allergens pose to society. Allergen issues more greatly impact women and non-binary individuals, who often face the effects of seasonal shifts and weather fluctuations. Therefore, we wanted to bring these concerns to light because we recognize the importance of creating inclusive health solutions that address the specific needs of all community members. National Library of Medicine researchers Sheriene Moussa Afify and Isabella Pali-Scholl state that allergens “occur more frequently in females". Our ultimate goal is to use our solution to find a way to help members of underrepresented minorities and expand our scope to aid this societal impact. To illustrate, from within Hispanic origin, 29% of women were reported to have seasonal allergies, while 21% of men were reported to have allergies (Amanda E. & Boersma, 2023).
What it does
SensitiveSummer is an interactive application which allows users to input a location into the search bar and returns real-time data for the allergen-related data points. We also incorporated a feature that uses a chart to pull from and analyze the severity of allergens in coordination with wind and temperature. This feature helps users identify allergen severity levels and inform the public about the real-time status of that location.
How we built it
SensitiveSummer was created in React, with languages and tools like JavaScript, CSS, and HTML. Integrated with an API from OpenWeatherMap, the application is able to fetch and display real-time data and generate insights from current data. With a user-friendly interface, the app is direct and easy to use for users. A search bar communicates the area name and displays the appropriate data points to display to users.
Challenges we ran into
Despite facing challenges during implementation, we persevered through times of doubt at every step of refining our initial concept. One challenge we faced involved using MongoDB; we struggled to import the data file into a cluster. As a result, we expanded our knowledge of authenticating the database and connecting to it. We also ran into debugging issues while hosting the website with react, which led us to restarting that process multiple times.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Our group is proud of our collaboration ability. New to hackathons, we displayed our adaptability despite the difficulties faced throughout the project. Troubleshooting various issues and optimizing user-experience, we were able to support each other. Going through the application process to create a project that is fully-functional has been a highlight.
What we learned
Throughout this hackathon, we learned a lot about new technologies working together and deciding which is best to meet our group's purpose. We gained valuable knowledge in several specific technologies, including how to use APIs for application integration and utilizing MongoDB for data file management, among others.
What's next for SensitiveSummer
SensitiveSummer has a lot in store for the future! The next steps include additional integration of APIs to improve user experience and overall functionality. In particular, with Google Maps API, we will include an interactive map to show the color-coded hotspots with high-density levels of allergens. A feature to be implemented would be when a user hovers over a given hotspot, a toolkit can appear with additional information about that allergen or multiple presents in that location. We could also include filter options by implementing a dropdown menu. These additions would allow users to select specific allergens they are interested in, such as dust mites or pollen. Implement better use of datasets, with their analysis of wind, temperatures, and humidity, creating more comprehensive analytic insights.
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