Snap & Snack

An AI wellness companion using facial analysis and biometrics to recommend personalized "bio-fuel" recipes, empowering students and users of all ages to conquer stress and emotional eating.

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Inspiration

The heart and soul of Snap & Snack is my 12-year-old daughter, Anzhela. Being part of a generation that faces immense academic and social pressure, she noticed how she and her peers often turn to "comfort food" during stressful exam periods. Anzhela came up with a brilliant question: "What if our computers could tell how stressed we are and help us choose food that actually makes us feel better?" As a mother-daughter duo, we decided to turn this vision into reality. Anzhela defined the user experience and the "Food Hero" concept to make healthy eating fun, while I provided the technical architecture to make it work.

What it does

Snap & Snack is an AI-powered wellness companion. It uses real-time facial expression analysis and biometric PPG tracking (heart rate) via the camera to detect stress levels. Based on this data, it uses GPT-4o-mini to suggest "Bio-Fuel" recipes and FLUX AI to generate a unique "Food Hero" avatar, transforming a stressful moment into a gamified, healthy choice.

How we built it

We built a modern, high-performance web application using:

  • Frontend: The latest React 19, leveraging its newest features for state management and UI rendering.
  • Backend & Auth: Supabase (PostgreSQL) for secure user authentication, database management, and Row Level Security (RLS).
  • AI & Computer Vision: Google MediaPipe for real-time face mesh analysis and PPG biometric detection.
  • Generative Intelligence: OpenAI's GPT-4o-mini for personalized nutrition and FLUX AI for generating the "Food Hero" avatars.
  • Styling: Tailwind CSS for a modern, responsive "Gen Z" aesthetic, ensuring the app feels fresh and engaging for younger users.

Challenges we ran into

Developing a biometric system that works for younger users with different lighting conditions was tough. We also faced a real-world security lesson when an API key was accidentally exposed; we quickly pivoted, revoked the key, and implemented a professional environment variable system. This taught Anzhela (and reminded me) the vital importance of cybersecurity in modern apps.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are incredibly proud of creating a working bridge between complex Computer Vision and Generative AI. But most importantly, we are proud to show that a 12-year-old’s empathy and vision, combined with experienced technical guidance, can build a tool that promotes mental and physical health.

What we learned

This journey was a steep learning curve for both of us. Anzhela learned that a great idea is only the beginning and that turning a vision into a working product requires logic, persistence, and attention to detail. I (Kristin) learned how to implement the brand-new features of React 19 and how to integrate complex AI models like MediaPipe for real-time biometrics. Together, we learned a vital lesson in Cybersecurity: how to handle sensitive API keys and why environment variables are the backbone of a professional application. Most importantly, we learned that the best technology is built when empathy and technical skill work hand in hand.

What's next for Snap & Snack

We have a bold vision for the future of the app:

  • Global Impact & Collaborations: We aim to collaborate with international health organizations to validate our "Bio-Fuel" recommendations and promote the app as a tool for student mental health and nutrition awareness worldwide.
  • Smart Incentives & Promo Codes: We plan to partner with healthy restaurants and bio-markets to offer exclusive promo codes and discounts. This will make the healthy choices suggested by our AI more accessible and affordable for everyone.
  • Seamless Delivery Integration: We will expand our current redirects to Glovo and Takeaway.com into deep API integrations, allowing for a frictionless "click-to-table" experience across the European market.

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